Reconnections 2017
From 18 until 26 February, 2017, the joint chamber music workshop of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance was held for the fifth time.
This time, the event – which was organised for the first time in 2013 – was hosted by Israel, was attended by nine instrument players (Eveline Meier, Edda Elrendsdóttir, Vilmos Kóta, Kristóf Hosszú, Edina Pinkert, Boglárka Szűcs, Péter Bor, Mátyás Hotzi, Zsófia Eredics), one composition student (András Gelléri), and two members of the academic staff (Péter Bársony and Balázs Fülei) from the Liszt Academy, to prepare alongside the students and teachers of the Jerusalem academy for their joint concerts.
The schedule of the week followed the previous programme-patterns: on the first days, the newly established student-formations of the two institutions rehearsed the concert pieces with great intensity so that at the end of the project, these could be performed before several audiences. However, this year, two novel initiatives were launched: the instructing tutors did not only train the students but also participated in the performances themselves. Two contemporary pieces written by two extraordinarily gifted composition students of the two music academies were also on the repertoire. Both of the composers were highly active in the rehearsals of the musicians. The collaborating formations of teachers and students featured in three concerts of differing programmes, so this year’s repertoire was even more bountiful and multifaceted than in previous years.
On 23 February, at the concert dedicated primarily to local teachers, students and music-lovers in the Jerusalem Academy Navon Hall, one movement of each composition was performed. Following the highly acclaimed concert, the musicians immediately set off for Zikhron Ya’akov, located next to the sea, to give two concerts in the lavishly equipped and modern Elma Hall in an absolutely picturesque environment. On 24 February, besides two movements of Bach’s Musikalisches Opfer, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A major and Jean Francaix’s Octet for clarinet, horn, bassoon & strings, also the two contemporary works by the two composition students featured on the programme: 4 Glances through a keyhole by Omer Barash and András Gelléri’s Episodes for oboe, clarinet and string trio, which thus debuted in Israel.
On the following day, in the morning of 25 February, the participants of the workshop visited the legendary city of Caesarea and in the evening delivered their final concert in the Cube Hall at Elma greatly welcomed by a highly animated audience. All tickets had sold out for the performance where a Wind Quintet by Ferenc Farkas, Mozart’s Horn Quintet in E-flat major as well as André Hajdu’s Five sketches in sentimental mood were played. The event was then closed with Dvořák’s world-famous Piano Quintet.
Among the audience were Ilan Mor, Israel’s former ambassador in Hungary, who had initiated the cooperation five years ago, Zsófia Trombitás, the Hungarian deputy ambassador in Tel-Aviv, the Conductor and Music Director of the Symphony Orchestra of the Jerusalem Academy, Prof Eitan Globerson, the Dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts, Lihay Bendayan and President of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Yinam Leef. The instructing tutors were Gilad Harel and Roi Shiloah, while Zvi Plesser acted as the leader of the project.
The 2017 Reconnections event lived up to the high standards of the very successful events of the preceding years: the participants could create and perform in the spirit of the initial chamber music concept while enriching it with novel and progressive new approaches, renewing thereby the collaboration and joint music-making of the two institutions.
Next year, in the spring of 2018, the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music will host the event and welcome the teachers and students of the Jerusalem Academy to continue the fruitful cooperation project while making use of their mutually rewarding past experiences.