The singing orchestra

Concerto Budapest is making a UK debut with a six-date tour (6-12 June 2022) under direction of Chief Conductor, András Keller.

Performances will take place in London, Guildford, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. 

Concerto Budapest, one of Hungary’s finest symphony orchestras, is set to add a significant new chapter to its long and distinguished history when it makes its UK debut this summer. The 80-strong ensemble and its charismatic Chief Conductor and Artistic Director András Keller will perform the compelling combination of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 in A major K.488, with Angela Hewitt as soloist, and Beethoven’s Symphony No.5.

Concerto Budapest’s first visit to the UK follows the orchestra’s extensive tours of East Asia in 2017 and 2019 and its critically acclaimed debut at the Folle journée festival in Nantes two years ago. András Keller’s choice of repertoire for this summer’s tour plays to his orchestra’s fundamental strengths and reflects their collective determination to connect with audiences at the most profound emotional level.

'We want to introduce Hungarian music and culture to British audiences in a befitting manner,' the conductor comments. 'My only desire is to give authentic and effective performances. Concerto Budapest are famous for playing music with enormous heart and soul. On our last major tour in France, before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was an amazing energy in the orchestra. Things will be no different when we come to the UK. The orchestra’s ethos is simple: we have to be transformed into the sounds we play. This is how music happens with us; in this way, it’s possible to convey the music’s soul to our audiences. This demands total devotion, which is what I learnt from my masters, from György Kurtág, Ferenc Rados, Sándor Végh.'