Early Music
Summer University

István Kónya graduated in history and music at the Teacher Training College in Szombathely (Hungary) in 1985, then studied classical guitar at the local department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Debrecen (Hungary). Between 1989 and 1996, he studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (the Netherlands), majoring in Renaissance and Baroque lutes, archlute and chitarrone, guided by Toyohiko Satoh. He is the first Hungarian musician to hold a diploma in lute performance. He has taken master classes with Nigel North and Stephen Stubbs. As a soloist and accompanist as well as a member of various ensembles, he has given concerts in several countries in Europe and America. Since 1996 he has been a teacher and artistic director of several early music academies and festivals. As of 2010, he has been the lute and guitar teacher of the Miercurea Ciuc Early Music Summer University. He performed at a series of concerts and in recordings, released two solo CDs and three lute books. As the organizer of the Lute Evenings in Buda Castle, he had over 50 recitals in the Gothic Hall of Budapest History Museum. He has been at the forefront of the official teaching of the lute at primary and secondary level in Hungary from 2022, and at university level from autumn 2023.

Beginners will of course be introduced to basic playing techniques and tablature reading, while advanced players will be introduced to the characteristic instrumental formats of the lute pieces, performance techniques, types of ornamentation, diminution, the basics of figured bass and accompaniment to old Hungarian songs.

What can GUITAR PLAYERS expect from this course?

We will deal with the practice of the improvisation and diminution, the adaptation of continuo for the guitar, the ornamentation of Renaissance and Baroque pieces, the adaptation of Baroque lute effects for the guitar and the transcription of Baroque lute and guitar pieces into guitar modes. We will pay special attention to the luteworks of Weiss and Bach as well as to Visée’s works written for the guitar. With this knowledge, guitar players will be able to enrich their Baroque repertoire.

He was born in Budapest in 1972. Already as a child he was interested in early woodwind instruments. He participated in several international recorder masterclasses under the direction of Anneke Boeke, Peter Holtslag and Walter van Hauwe. He earned his first music diploma (recorder) at the Early Music Faculty of the Conservatory in Szeged (Hungary), and his second one (Baroque flute) in 2002 at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, where he obtained his DLA as well. His professors were László Czidra, László Lőrincz, Vera Balogh and Ildikó Kertész. Since 1998, he has been teaching at the Bartók Béla Music Institute of the Miskolc University and at the Bartók Béla Secondary School of Music in Miskolc. He is a regular jury member of regional, national and international competitions and has taught at several early music masterclasses. Member of the Musica Historica ensemble since 1990, he has also worked with other ensembles. He has performed in more than a thousand concerts and contributed to 22 music records.

During these classes, participants can play various pieces based on their previous experience, mainly from the music of the 15–18th centuries. Participants can either bring some pieces from an already known repertoire or learn new ones from sheet music given on the spot. Our goal is to provide as much information on the performance of the early music as possible. Throughout the course, participants will have the opportunity to play individually and in various chamber music groups, similarly to the previous courses. This year we will once again have a renaissance flute consort available, which we would like to play together again in smaller and larger compositions. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to discover and try out old woodwind instruments.

She graduated at the Széchenyi István University of Győr as a student of Judit Németh, specialising in solo singing. Later she improved her craftsmanship as a participant of the masterclasses of Júlia Hamari, Anna Reynolds and Ilona Adorján. For several years, she was the vocal teacher of the Bartók Béla Choir of the Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest. As the soloist of this choir, she participated in several local and international concert tours. She has been a member of the Musica Historica ensemble since 1994. She performed several chanson and aria recitals in Hungary, Switzerland and Germany. Currently she is a teacher at the Hermann László Secondary School of Music in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Since 2001, she has been teaching classical singing; among her students one can find not only classical but also folk singers and actors/actresses. Since 2010, she has been teaching singing at the Department of Folk Music, Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. Her main fields of interest include treating phonation problems and working out the given, natural voice. In her teaching, she lays great emphasis on the harmonisation of text and musical accents.

Participants can either bring songs, arias, duets, terzettos and obbligato instrumental pieces or they can choose and learn new pieces together at the course. In addition to the development of phonation and the pronunciation of lyrics, our goal is to provide as much information on the performance of the early music as possible. Besides the individual performances, participants will have the opportunity to sing in various chamber music groups, as in previous courses.

The artist graduated as a violin teacher from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1994 and has participated in several early music courses all over Europe. She has taught Baroque violin and chamber music at the Faculty of Music, University of Szeged and gained her primary teaching experience at the Music School of Ferencváros and Józsefváros of Budapest. She performed in the Erkel Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, the Concerto Armonico and Musica Profana ensembles, and was a founding member and concertmaster of the Orfeo Orchestra. Currently she is the concertmaster of the Savaria Baroque Orchestra, member of the Tercina ensemble founded by herself, and a contributor to several other early music formations. She is also a teacher at the Ward Mária Music Secondary School in Budapest, the Early Music Summer University in Miercurea Ciuc, the Castle Festival and Course in Gödöllő and the Renaissance and Baroque Week in Győr. She is the soloist of several national and international concerts and CD recordings.

The topic of our course is the Baroque and Classical violin literature. Applicants must be at least 12 years old and have at least 6 years of experience in playing the violin. We welcome participants who play Baroque or modern violin. Places are limited to a maximum of 8 participants.

Born in Australia, after obtaining his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Sydney, he moved to London where he has since worked with many of the leading early music orchestras. In 1989 he won the first prize in the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges, Belgium, at that time only the third time in 30 years that a first prize had been awarded. In 2014 he completed a Master of Music degree in musicology at Royal Holloway, University of London and continues to learn from his colleagues and students around the world.
From 2004 to 2019 he was professor of harpsichord at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig. Now he is Professor of Harpsichord at the Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna and also teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Former student of the Nagy István Secondary School of Arts and Music in Miercurea Ciuc, he graduated as a contrabass player from the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music of Cluj-Napoca. Currently, he is a member of the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra. As an autodidact, he started to play early music and the viol (viola da gamba), studying later under the direction of Ilse László-Herbert. He attended masterclasses in Switzerland, studying viol with Guido Balestracci and basso continuo with Pierre-Alain Clerc and participated in several masterclasses with chamber music and solo repertoire under the guidance of Bruno Cocset, Hervé Douchy, Mira Glodeanu, Jan De Winne and Françoise Lengellé. He has collaborated with early music ensembles from Romania and abroad, such as Ausonia (Brussels), Il Gardellino (Brugge), Chanterelle (Cluj-Napoca). He is the founding member of the Baroque music ensembles Fonte di Gioia and Sectio Aurea. The artist has been invited to perform solo and chamber music concerts at home and abroad.

At this year’s viola da gamba and violone/baroque bass masterclasses we welcome those who wish to develop their existing viola da gamba /violone skills. At the same time, we also encourage beginner musicians to try out the viola da gamba. 

He graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1990 and continued his studies in London (Guildhall School of Music & Drama) and Belfast, where he obtained his doctorate from The Queen’s University. Professor and choral conductor at the University of Szeged and the Partium Christian University, he is also the artistic director of the “… canticum novum” ensemble in Szeged, the Argenteus Mixed Choir and the Al Fresco Early Music Ensemble. His choirs were awarded first prize and he won the conductor’s prize at several international choir competitions (Pécs Chamber Choir Competition, Ohrid International Choir Competition, Budapest International Choir Competition). He is also the winner of the 17th Budapest International Choir Competition and of the Supreme Award with the Choir of Partium Christian University in 2019. With his choirs, he has sung the premieres of 27 contemporary Hungarian choral works.

The choir and conducting courses are linked; the choir course will take place in the morning and the conducting course in the afternoon. In order to assist each other’s work, participants are required to be present at both parts of the course; obviously, the members of the choir are not required to conduct. The conducting course is available to people with previous experience in this field.

Goals and questions for the choir and conducting course:

1. To learn about Western European choral works recorded in and related to the Codex Caioni, to study and practise the stylish performance of these from as many aspects as possible. Key aspects include intonation, rhetoric, text management, and the less explicit peculiarities of performing. H. I. P. – What does it mean? How do we approach it within our own capabilities?
2. Tasks of the conductor of old choral music. What can be the role of a conductor today in a function that practically did not exist at the time of the creation of the pieces? To what extent can modern conducting tools be used in conducting old choral music? What should we forget? What should we (re-)learn?

After studying cello, he became interested in folk music and early music. He studied at the Folk Music School in Óbuda under the guidance of György Lányi and Tamás Kobzos Kiss, specialising in bagpipes and cobza, then participated in several Renaissance masterclasses taught by László Czidra. He obtained his bachelor’s degree at the Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest) in Hungarian language and literature in 1997 and defended his PhD thesis in 2004 at the same university. Since 2001, he has been working at the Institute of Literary Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His main research area is old sung poetry. In 1988, he founded the Musica Historica ensemble. As a member of the Carmina Danubiana ensemble, he regularly gives concerts with Márta Sebestyén, Katalin Szvorák, András Szabó, Erdal Şalikoğlu and Miquèu Montanaro, and performs as a soloist at the Two in Verse evenings. He has composed music for the stage, and contributed in the creation of various CDs and TV films. Since 2018, he has been working as a lecturer at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and at the Eötvös Loránd University. He received the Tinódi Lute Award in 2003 and the Kobzos Kiss Tamás Itinerant Award in 2016, as well as several professional awards for his research. This year is the eleventh time he has been leading the Renaissance ensemble masterclass at the Early Music Summer University in Miercurea Ciuc.

The chamber music course offers both beginner and advanced musicians the opportunity to get a taste of the music of the Renaissance period, especially dance music. Vocal works will also be included if singers participate in the course. In keeping with our tradition, we will present the completed musical pieces as outdoor music with the newly formed ensembles. In the mornings the three permanent groups will take turns playing, with contributions from students attending the other main courses and guests.

The chamber groups’ repertoire will be selected from Western European, Hungarian and Transylvanian sources, including some arrangements by Endre Deák (1952–2012), thus also cultivating the legacy of the Transylvanian early music master.

Minstrels’ Club (optional)
In the early afternoon, interested people (of any specialty) who like to sing old Hungarian songs and accompany themselves on cobza, lute, guitar or other instruments are welcome. If you haven’t tried it yet, now’s your chance! We will also discuss the history and methods of minstrel singing.

The chamber music course offers both beginner and advanced musicians the opportunity to get a taste of the music of the Renaissance period, especially dance music. Vocal works will also be included if singers participate in the course. In keeping with our tradition, we will present the completed musical pieces as outdoor music with the newly formed ensembles. In the mornings the three permanent groups will take turns playing, with contributions from students attending the other main courses and guests.

The chamber groups’ repertoire will be selected from Western European, Hungarian and Transylvanian sources, including some arrangements by Endre Deák (1952–2012), thus also cultivating the legacy of the Transylvanian early music master.

Minstrels’ Club (optional)
In the early afternoon, interested people (of any specialty) who like to sing old Hungarian songs and accompany themselves on cobza, lute, guitar or other instruments are welcome. If you haven’t tried it yet, now’s your chance! We will also discuss the history and methods of minstrel singing.

ROLAND KASZA (Hungary) – Percussion in early music, percussion chamber course: musical games, improvisation, phrase-compilation

After elementary percussion and piano studies with Károly Radányi, he studied percussion at the Secondary School of Arts in Szombathely (Hungary) as a student of László Szűcs and Magdolna Szarvas. He earned his chamber musician and music teacher diploma at the Music Faculty of the Széchenyi István University, Győr in 1999, as a student of László Váray. Starting with autumn 2003, he was a student at the Conservatoire Royale de Bruxelles for one year. In 2017, he received his master’s degree from the Béla Bartók Institute of Music of the University of Miskolc. Since 1997 has been head of the percussion department of the Weiner Leó School of Music in Budapest . His pedagogical work focuses on the application of chamber music and early music to percussion. His students have performed in numerous concerts, made radio and television appearances and won prizes prestigious competitions. He has been a member of the Musica Historica ensemble since 1995 and of Canlar since 1999.

BALÁZS SUDÁR (Hungary) – Percussion in early music, percussion chamber course: musical games, improvisation, phrase-compilation

He started his musical studies with the cobza (plucked folk instrument) at the Folk Music School in Óbuda with Tamás Kobzos Kiss. Here he also took part in a one-year masterclass on the saz, a Turkish classical instrument, with Erdal Şalikoğlu from Istanbul. Later, he took private lessons from Yusuf Benli, a master of the saz (bağlama). In the meantime, he got acquainted with the Ottoman classical music theory and practice, being primarily preoccupied with processing 17–18th century resources. He obtained his PhD at the Turkish Department of the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest with his work about literature and music in the Ottoman Hungary. Since 2003, he has been a researcher at the Institute for History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His main areas of research include the cultural and political history of the Ottoman Hungary. He is the author and co-author of several books, studies and translations. Between 1990 and 2011, he was a regular member of the Musica Historica ensemble; as a guest artist, he still takes part in their activity. In 1997, he founded the Canlar ensemble specialising in Turkish classical and folk music. His relationship with music is enriched by the several reconstructions and copies of early musical instruments.

In this course we will make an attempt to explore the percussion culture of the old ages. There are hardly any surviving sources from which we can obtain authentic information about the percussionists’ solos and instrumentation of the past. In addition to the few sources on art music, the companion arts provide a wealth of information on the presence of percussion instruments in the art music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods. We will focus on instruments that can be played by anyone without any prior training. The playing of rim drums, tambourines, the drums of the derbuka family, triangles and bells offer a pleasant experience for the player even at the first try, but we will also explore the possibilities of playing these instruments in a simple but professional way. Within the framework of group music-making, we will reconstruct and rethink the place of percussion instruments in “old Europe” through its music.