The Mixed Choir of the Faculty of Music of the University of Debrecen and the Bárdos Girls’ Choir, one of Hungary’s most successful and time-honored female-voice choirs, once again showcased abroad the tradition and musical excellence that have defined their work for so many decades. Both of these ensembles are regular participants in international professional contests and festivals, where they consistently perform with success. During the course of recent years, they have taken part in a variety of major international competitions winning multiple first prizes, gold medals, special awards and a grand prize. Most recently, they performed at an exotic location when they were invited to Beijing for the China International Choral Festival, a highly prestigious professional event where Hungarian choirs also have the opportunity to present their talents.
UD’s Mixed Choir and the Bárdos Girls’ Choir gave particularly successful concerts in the 1859-seat concert hall of the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, as well as in the New Tsinghua Xuetang concert hall of the renowned Tsinghua University.
Conductor Mónika Végh, Head of the Department of Solfège, Music Theory and Choral Conducting at the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Music, told hirek.unideb.hu that, during their guest performances in China, the choirs spent unforgettable weeks there in respect of gaining both personal and professional experience.
- This event in Beijing is the largest choral competition in China. In fact, we did not go there to win but rather to represent our country and demonstrate how choral work is done in Hungary. Apart from us, there were also other choirs there from Oxford, Oregon, Germany and Greece. Our performance was preceded by extensive preparations. First, we took the stage in a concert hall of the same standard as that of MÜPA in Budapest, while on another occasion, a German youth choir joined us for a concert. We had been invited to the festival by the president of the Beijing Kodály Society, since we had made a very good impression on him at the Bárdos Symposium, and the Chinese had also seen us at the Budapest choir competition. It was our performance at those events that made it possible for us to go to Beijing, but Judit Váradi’s mediation also played a major part in making this happen. We only had three months to make arrangements for the trip and the performance, and we are really grateful to the university and the city of Debrecen for this opportunity. Hungary is regularly represented at this Chinese festival every year, as the Kodály legacy is highly respected there, while local educators also view this professional work, keeping the Hungarian musical heritage alive, as a model. The local children’s choirs also showed deep respect towards us; we gave excellent concerts, and we can be rightly proud that we represented Debrecen and Hungary appropriately. Besides performing choral works by Zoltán Kodály and his disciples, we endeavored to present lighter genres, enriched with entertaining elements, to the audience and the local choirs. In addition, we also performed a Chinese piece, for which two of our international students from China proved to be a great help with the correct pronunciation of the words,” said the department chair. During the concerts, pianist Eszter Szabó accompanied the choirs.
The series of professional program elements was further enriched by Mónika Végh’s remarkably successful master course, which she held upon the invitation of the Beijing Kodály Society with the participation of the two choirs and more than a hundred music educators. It focused on the potential applications of the Kodály method in choral conducting, as well as how the practical elements of choral work practiced in Debrecen are reflected in Hungarian patterns.
The Chinese tour continued in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province after the successful appearances in Beijing, where the choirs of the Faculty of Music of the University of Debrecen concluded their Asian concert series.
Press Center - BZ