Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra to Host Day of Listening 2023

Led by András Keller, the contemporary music event will involve six concerts on November 5, 2023 — and be streamed LIVE on The Violin Channel

The Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra is presenting its fifth annual Day of Listening Festival, which showcases almost 30 works, squeezed into six concerts on just one day.

Led by the orchestra’s music director and chief conductor András Keller, the event was established in 2015 in order to break down boundaries between both performers and audiences as well as classical and contemporary music.

Each concert will be streamed live here on The Violin Channel on November 5, 2023, at 6 AM, 8 AM, 9:30 AM, 11 AM, 12:30 PM, and 2 PM (ET) — live from the Budapest Music Center.

Of the pieces by the 11 composers alive today – Máté Balogh, Gábor Csalog, Gyula Csapó, Alessio Elia Péter, Eötvös, Ádám Kondor, Miklós Perényi, Roland Szentpáli, Dobrinka Tabakova, László Tihanyi and Ákos Zarándy – seven will be world premieres.

The event’s renowned soloists and chamber musicians comprise Maxim Rysanov, László Móré, Ákos Takács, Tibor Takács, Kános Benyus, Emese Mali, and the Ligeti Ensemble, among others.

“Twenty-eight works — among them seven premieres and one Hungarian one — await the audience at the six concerts condensed into one day,” the orchestra posted on Facebook. “The show ranks the works of composers from Richard Strauss to Shostakovich through legendary contemporary composers to the youngest generation of musicians.”

This year‘s Day of Listening is organized in honor of Zoltán Gál, the former violist of the Keller Quartet.

The event will also pay tribute to two composers: György Ligeti, who was born 100 years ago, and Zoltán Jeney, who died in 2019 but would have been 80 years old this year. Pieces by both composers will be performed.

“There is nothing without contemporary music," said András Keller. "Without it, the classical tradition cannot be comprehended."

Concerto Budapest is one of Hungary’s oldest ensembles — its predecessor was founded in 1907. Keller, the renowned Hungarian violinist, pedagogue, and the founder of the Keller Quartet, was appointed as leader of the orchestra in 2007.

To view the complete program, click here.