Tarsoly Band
The Tarsoly Band was founded in 2010 by students of the Bartók-Pikéthy Secondary Music School in Vác. During its 12 years of existence, the band has won numerous awards and accolades. Their first album, Saturday Night (Szombaton este), was released in 2011. Subsequently, they released albums such as Patakparton-Folk Music of Rákosmente (2017), Of Everyone (Mindenkié) (2018), Melodies of Nyírség (Nyírségi muzsika) (2019), and Melodies of Kalotaszeg (Kalotaszegi muzsika) (2021), which were produced by Tamás Kunos, founding member of the Kossuth Prize-winning Csík Orchestra. The orchestra has accompanied many excellent dance companies to this day, which is a great honour for them. Over the years, graduates of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music have spent their time teaching and passing on the knowledge they have gained to future generations. The concert will cover everything from the beginnings to the orchestra today, showing where they started, where they are now and where they are going.
Zagyva Band
The Zagyva Band is one of the most significant bands of the young generation of Hungarian musicians, founded in 2002 in Tura. Its members are dedicated practitioners of Hungarian folk music. Their repertoire includes folk songs and dance music of Hungarians and other nationalities of the Carpathian Basin, including Romanians, Slovaks and Gypsies. Over the past 20 years they have been the musical composers and backing band for more than 20 primetime folk dance shows, and boast of a discography of 10 albums. In 2014, they were awarded the Pest County Culture Prize. Two members of the orchestra have received the Junior Príma Award in the category of public and folk arts (2017,2018). They are frequent guests of Hungarians living abroad, and since 2015 they have been carrying out a cultural mission in the North American Hungarian Diaspora. The orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary with this concert. This programme is implemented through the Béla Halmos Program of the NKA.