Post Tagged with: "Music"

Professor László Norbert Nemes and Ms. Judith Hartyányi

The Kodály Center at Holy Names University

In 1868 six women of the religious order Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary arrived to California from Montreal, Canada and founded a teachers college called Holy Names University. The campus today is located high above the San Francisco Bay and has stunning views. The Catholic university provides a program for music teachers and has become a […]

by · July 18, 2019 · Culture
At the Grammies

Bruno Mars – a superstar with (some) Hungarian ancestry

Bruno Mars has Hungarian ancestry? Hard to believe, but the fact is that the pop-superstar has a bit of Hungarian in him, a Hungarian Jewish grandmother on his father’s side. Here is the story. Peter Gene Hernandez aka. Bruno Mars was born in 1985 in Honolulu, Hawaii into a family of musicians and dancers. His beloved mother, Bernadette San Pedro […]

by · June 9, 2019 · Culture
Scene from the all-white cast Porgy and Bess

Hungarian opera singers claim African American identity

Fifteen Caucasian opera singers from the Hungarian State Opera signed a document claiming that they identify, in part, as being African American. Szilvester Ókovács, the Opera House’s director, asked those with roles in George Gershwin’s piece Porgy and Bess to identify as African-American in writing, in order to get around the fact that Ira Gershwin insisted that these roles only be filled […]

by · April 10, 2019 · Culture
Tomi Fluor

New targets added to Fidesz propagandist’s “Stalinist” hit list

We have covered professional Fidesz propagandist, Árpád Szakács, and his list of targets before. He is the singularly vindictive author of an on-going series of articles in the Magyar Idők daily, which aims to name and shame left-leaning or liberal artists, and then advocate for them to lose any public funding or support that they may receive. Some five-hundred Hungarian […]

by · September 2, 2018 · Politics
Budapest Opera’s Billy Elliot poster.

Billy Elliot is not tolerated by the homophobe Orbán regime in Budapest

Gay bashing seems to be the official policy in Hungary. The Orbán Government has no openly gay members and there are no gays in the ruling Fidesz party either. Orbán loyalists have no gay relatives, not even gay acquaintances. Mr. Orbán’s cultural advisor Imre Kerényi wants to stop “the faggot lobby,” Budapest Mayor István Tarlós says that homosexuality as “unnatural […]

by · June 22, 2018 · Politics
André Watts

André Watts, the African-American and Hungarian concert pianist

As part of our series on lesser known Hungarian Americans we introduce an American superstar, concert pianist André Watts. We feel that this piece is timely since the Orbán government is supporting “ethnic homogeneity” and envisions a white Christian Hungary defending Europe from the “hordes” of Africa and the Middle-East. André Watts is a living legend, a musical virtuoso and […]

by · March 15, 2018 · Diaspora
Scene from the all-white cast Porgy and Bess

Was Gershwin being racist when he insisted on an all-black cast for Porgy and Bess?

Hungarian State Opera director Szilveszter Ókovács thinks that George Gershwin’s all-black cast requirement today is racist. Porgy and Bess was first staged on Broadway in 1935; the music was composed by George Gershwin and the libretto was written by his brother Ira Gershwin in collaboration with DuBose Heyward, who wrote the original story. The authors prescribed an all-black cast for […]

by · February 1, 2018 · Culture
January 22 – National Day of Hungarian Culture

January 22 – National Day of Hungarian Culture

On 22 January 1823 the great poet Ferenc Kölcsey completed the text of the Hungarian National Anthem. Since 1989 this date is celebrated as the National Day of Hungarian Culture and the history of the National Anthem is an example of the country’s diversity. The official music for the anthem was composed by Ferenc Erkel as part of a competition […]

by · January 23, 2018 · Culture
Cover of one of his US recording

Ervin Nyíregyházi – from Hungarian child prodigy to California drifter

We remember Ervin Nyíregyházi, the Hungarian-American pianist and composer. Considered a “lost genius” as he is one of the lesser known or forgotten Hungarian immigrants in North America. Ervin Nyíregyházi was born in 1903 in Budapest. Ervin tried to sing before he was one year old, sang tunes before he was two and was able to play almost every song […]

by · October 11, 2017 · Diaspora
The Children’s Philharmonic Orchestra of Szentegyháza at Niagara Falls.

Children’s Philharmonic Orchestra of Szentegyháza promotes multiculturalism in Canada

Fili is the nickname of the Children’s Philharmonic Orchestra from Szentegyháza (Transylvania, Romania). The orchestra and choir recently toured Canada to honor the country’s 150th anniversary visiting seven cities and giving 11 concerts. The musical group was founded 35 years ago in the ethnic Hungarian-speaking community and gained fame under the direction of Sándor Haáz. In the last decades the […]

by · August 26, 2017 · Culture