Concert by the Students of the Jazz Department Presented by Liszt Academy

The history of jazz education in Hungary spans nearly half a century. Institutionalized teaching of the genre was integrated into the state music school system early on, first at the secondary level and then at the basic level, making it one of the first in Europe to do so. The “coming of age” was marked by the launch of the college division at the time of the regime change, which trained both performers and jazz educators, thus establishing the conditions for a professional, tiered education system. Both players in this emancipatory process have proven themselves; the Jazz Department has demonstrated that this “free musical style” can be taught and assessed on a deep professional basis, while the Liszt Academy, which embraced this groundbreaking initiative, has shown that it is open to innovation, especially when it represents an international level of artistic excellence. Indeed, this latter point is indisputable, as evidenced by the impressive list of former and recent graduates, many of whom have returned to their alma mater as instructors. Among these outstanding individuals are Károly Binder, Tamás Berki, Kálmán Oláh, Gyula Babos, Attila László, and Béla Lattmann, to name just a few from the list of exceptional artists. As a result of these achievements, it is no coincidence that more and more people across Europe are talking about “Hungarian jazz” as a distinct and unmistakable flavor—an impressive feat in this inherently cosmopolitan genre.