Biography

GYÖRGY KURTÁG JR.

1980-1982 – After completing his studies in composition in Budapest [ZAK], was assistant teacher to Messias Malguasca at the Centre Européen de Recherche Musical (European Center for Musical Research) in Metz.

1980-1986 – Composer, researcher and musical assistant at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique –Institute for Research and Acoustic Music Coordination) where he worked with Mauricio Kagel, Sylvano Bussotti and Péter Eötvös. Took part in Pierre Boulez’ Repons American tour.

Since 1983 has been working with Ferenc Grünwalsky. Received the Best Film Music award in 1993 from the Film Critics’ Association for “Goldberg Variations.” Composed music with Quatuor Lugosi for Ed Wood’s film, “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” considered a cinematic event when shown in Paris in 1996.

Has been living in Bordeaux since 1993 where he is a member of the scientific council of SCRIME (Information and Electroacoustic Musical Research Studio). His research extends to the articulation of musical movements as well as the design of new digital instruments. He has worked with the German firm of Shadow, among others, in creating the prototype for a synthesis module to be used with a guitar-midi interface.

Established the Comité des Fêtes ensemble with Daniel Kientzy (saxophone) and Frank Royan Le Mee (vocals), which draws from the eclectic contemporary music of the 1980s, ancient music, and incorporates theatrical and musical elements as well as.

Wrote an “electronic hybrid” musical work for string quartet and synthesizer called “Zwiegespräch” with György Kurtág Sr. on commission from the Paul Sacher Foundation. The work was performed at the 2000 Lucerne Festival, the 2001 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (with the Arditti Quartet), and the 2002 Wiener Festwochen (with the Keller Quartet).

Kurtág introduced the software developed by Francois Pachet in his work entitled, “The Continuator Project” at the Sony Company’s Artificial Intelligence Research Center in Paris, the 24 Hestejada de Las Arts d’Uzeste Musical (2001) and the “Sons d’Hiver” festival in Paris, as well as festivals in Budapest and Vienna in 2002.

In 2008 Görgy Kurtág Sr.’s “Kurtág 80” CD, which includes a recording of “Zwiegespräch,” written by father and son. was named among the top three contenders in the best contemporary music recording category. The awards ceremony will take place in Cannes in 2009.

In 2009 Kurtág received an invitation to hold a workshop at Carnegie Hall, New York within the framework of the year-long cultural event series, “Extremely Hungary,” which introduces Hungary’s cultural heritage to the New York (and Washington DC) audience. “Zwiegespräch” will also be performed as part of the series.

RECORDINGS
- Comité des Fêtes (with Daniel Kientzy, saxophone; Frank Royan Le Mee, vocals and keyboards)
- 1er Pas (with Pascal Lefeuvre, hurdy gurdy, Ed. Alba Musica)
- Lux Nox: SMS (Ed. BMC Records, Budapest)
- Kurtág 80 (BMC Records, Budapest)

MIKLÓS LENGYELFI II AND ANDRÁS MÁRTON, MEMBERS OF THE KFT BAND

The Kft Band was formed in 1981 by four musicians, former schoolmates (András Laár, Tibor Bornai, Miklós Lengyel II, and András Márton. In the year of their formation the band immediately won two awards in Hungary’s largest musical event, Hungarian television’s Pop Song Festival. Their hit tune, “Bábu vagy” / (“You’re a Puppet”), performed in costume with painted faces and puppet-like choreography and with what was then unfamiliar sound, made them known throughout the country in one fell swoop.

With their original sound and lyrics the band established a distinctive Hungarian “New-Wave” in music, of which they were considered the prime example. Kft released eleven albums.

In addition to their fondness for theatrical elements, Kft also uses the latest technology. During the mid-1980s the band developed a multimedia computer program to accompany one of their albums. At the dawn of the internet age in Hungary, in 1996 they presented a concert at the Budapest Sports Arena before an audience of 15 thousand (“Bál az Interneten / “A Ball on the Internet”). At the concert, in real time with the help of the internet, a recognized Hungarian artist from Los Angeles, András Wahorn, “painted” a computer-design illustration projected on a giant screen, while Hazel O’Connor sang with the band synchronized from a studio in Dublin, Ireland (www.kft.hu was the first artist domain name in Hungary).

The premier of their 2003 album was in outer space. Within the framework of the “Cosmic Call” program, alongside messages from Sir Arthur C. Clarke, David Bowie, astronauts Greg Lake and Sally Ride, Kft’s songs began their journey in the universe, beyond the Solar System. In addition to the songs, a special 30-second video-message was made to extra terrestrials. The broadcast went out via an astronomic radio antenna, 70-meter in diameter from Jevpatorij in the Ukraine.

In 2006 granted the Köztársasági Érdemrend Lovagkereszt (Republic’s Order of Merit of the Knight’s Cross) award. In 2007, in conjunction with György Kurtág Jr. and animation film director Ferenc Cakó, gave a concert at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall of the Palace of Arts.

In 2008, within the context of a brand new distribution scheme, self-produced their new album, “A bábu visszavág” (”The Puppet Retaliates”). The CD went double platinum.