It is with great sadness that I heard of the passing of Dr Mihály Ittzés on Tuesday morning.

Dr Mihály Ittzés became co-worker of the Kodály Institute in 1973. He was for a long time director of the library, for 20 years he was Vice Director of the Institute, a leading  research professor, a key figure in the musical life of the city of Kecskemét. He lectured, gave seminars and workshops in four continents.

Judit Rajk and her students - traditionally - finished the school year with common singing in the Lutheran Church in Kecskemét. The students of the Kodály Institute performed solo vocal works of J.S. Bach, Schütz and Humphrey.

On the occasion of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, Europa Nostra and its President Maestro Plácido Domingo invite all citizens in Europe and beyond to contribute to the #Ode2Joy Challenge. Supported by Ambassadors such as the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy in Budapest (Hungary) and the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (Belgium), this participatory initiative celebrates Europe through our common cultural heritage. It seeks to unlock creativity and encourage participants to make an “#Ode2Europe” as a humanistic and cultural project, based on shared values, history & heritage.

The 2018 Annual Conference of the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) was held in Oklahoma City between 23 and 26 March 2018. In addition to nearly 500 attending teachers (including many former students of the Kodály Institute), five choirs were rehearsing with renowned musicians, including Norbert Nemes László and Lilla Gábor.

The aim of this small book is to assist those who wish to visit the places significant in Zoltán Kodály's life and work in Budapest – either in practice or only virtually. Several of the buildings listed here would be visited by the interested reader or tourist anyway unaware of Kodály's links with them. Perhaps they will learn more about his connections to these places from this source. 

On 10 March, more than sixty former Kodály Institute students, their colleagues, their students, and leading officers of the Irish Kodály Society and its members attended the Dublin event initiated by the Kodály Institute. 

The latest addition to the Institute's Bookshop is the DVD entitled Teaching Piano for Beginners. 

It comes with an explanatory booklet in English and in Hungarian.