The Budapest Concert Orchestra

The Budapest Concert Orchestra is one of Hungary's most prestigious musical ensembles with regular concerts attracting a large and faithful audience.

This orchestra is unique in the way that it is the only professional symphony orchestra in the world founded and operated by the state railways company of a country. Sixty years have passed since this company, the Hungarian State Railways Corporation , took up, and has continued ever since, to act as a modern patron of the ensemble, for the sake of national culture and its own glory.

In 1995 the orchestra celebrated its 50th anniversary with the support of the Hungarian State Railways Corporation. In the twelve years since then they have produced 11 CDs and conquered several parts of the world. They managed to gain the world-famous Russian conductor, Yuri Simonov, to lead some of their concerts, and worked together with Kobayashi Ken Ichiro. The most important year was 1997, when the orchestra travelled to Japan, Lebanon, several European cities, and thanks to the fame they acquired during these trips they were also invited to Hong-Kong and the Republic of China. The legendary Three Tenors, José Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, were their partners not only in a major joint concert in Tokyo, conducted by James Levine, but also in individual gala evenings - Pavarotti no less than five times!
Kiri Te Kanawa, one of the queens of sopranos, has also been their partner. The relationship with her resulted in a concert at the Budapest Spring Festival in 2002, where she was also accompanied by the Budapest Concert Orchestra.

Conductor: Tamás GÁL

In September 1988 conductor Tamás Gál has been named music director of the Budapest Concert Orchestra and associate professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest where from 2001 he is - as the head of the department - the professor of the Conductors' Faculty.

more information: www.mavzenekar.hu/zenekar_en.htm