The Friends of the Budapest Festival Orchestra celebrated the beginning of the music season and commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution at the Hungarian Consulate on October 19 to build excitement for their upcoming performance at Lincoln Center under the conduction of Maestro Ivan Fisher in early February.
Guests including Janna Bullock, Sharon Bush, Miller Pierce, Antonia Gomez Gorton, and Dale Noelle enjoyed Hungarian wine before enjoying a 30-minute performance by a quartet from the world renowned Budapest Festival Orchestra.
Prior to the performance, a short film was shown thanking the heroes of the Hungarian revolution. Then a message from Barry Farber was played, before Ambassador and General Counsel of Hungary Dr. Ferenc Kumin came to the stage to welcome guests and announce two events that had recently been organized to pay homage to their country. The first is that over three nights from Friday October 21, a large projection will appear on the Williamsburg Bridge at the Brooklyn side with a custom animation. He then announced that a memorial would be erected at the intersection of 113th street and Riverside Drive on Sunday October 23rd, which is the actual anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Friends of the Budapest Festival Orchestra Chairman Stephen Benko then thanked Event Chair Sylvia Hemingway for all her efforts, along with the rest of her committee which includes Honorary Chair Daisy Soros, Vera Blinken, Laszlo Balassy, Kathryn Livingston Forgan, R. Couri Hay, Christine Schott Ledes, George Ledes, Kati Marton, Cole Rumbough, Aniko Gaal Schott, Stephanie Stokes and Victoria Wyman.
The Budapest Festival Orchestra is one of the international music scene’s major success stories, being rated among the top ten orchestras in the world. Its key figure and founder is the legendary Music Director/Conductor Iván Fischer.
