The History of The Choir

The History
of The Choir

The predecessor of the Budapest Lantos (earlier Ifjúsági – Youth) Choir was founded in 1950 by conductors Mr. Árpád Darázs and Liszt laureate Mr. Rezső Lantos. Following the departure abroad of Mr. Árpád Darázs Mr. Rezső Lantos directed the choir together with Mrs. Edit Lantos till Mr. Lantos’ early death in 1977. In the years of Mr. Lantos’ direction the choir had grown to become an extremely successful ensemble taking home numerous first prizes from festivals all across Europe (Arezzo, the Hague, Llangollen, Debrecen, etc.). In these years several Hungarian composers dedicated their pieces to the choir. Mr. Lajos Bárdos, for example, wrote 11 of his pieces for the choir.

Between the years 1977 and 1996 Mr. Kálmán Strausz Liszt laureate conductor was leading the choir. During these years the choir grew into being an important participant of Hungarian concert life. Their repertoire in these years consisted mainly of oratorios.

In the years 1996-2023 Ms. Ágnes Gerenday was leading conductor of the choir but had been working as second conductor from 1986. Since these years the choir has been singing masses, oratorios, and a cappella pieces (sacred choral pieces, poetry set to music, folk song adaptations) as well. In the past decade or so the choir has performed on several occasions with great success in the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Transylvania, Austria, and Romania. After the sad passing of Ms Ágnes Gerenday in 2023, Mr. Tamás Szarka became the artistic director of the choir. Mr. Szarka joined the choir as second conductor in 2017. The choir was a regular guest choir of the Salzburg concert seasons 2006–2015. Under the name Talentumchor they had performed with great success Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, Franz Schmidt’s The Book of Seven Secrets and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. For several years they were regular participants of the New Year’s Concerts of the Festspielhaus with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, etc. The choir has contributed to CD recordings such as Max Bruch’s Moses, 2002, Álombálom with Ghymes, 2008, or Gluck Arias with Ms. Eszter Sümegi, 2011. The choir has also made demo CDs and DVD recordings of their own concerts.

The choir together with the widow of Mr. Lantos founded the „Lantos Rezső Emlékalapítvány” (Rezső Lantos Memorial Foundation) with the purpose of supporting young, talented conductors. In this spirit the Foundation gave prizes in the most prestigious Hungarian competitions (Debrecen, Budapest). Following the initiative of the choir in 2003, the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music established the Rezső Lantos Competition for Young Conductors. In 2017, the Budapest Youth Choir took the name of their founder conductor, Mr. Rezső Lantos on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his birth.. In 2021 the choir was rewarded with the Csokonai Vitéz Mihály Community Prize, the highest professional prize given to amateur art ensembles honouring their artistic work.

Contact

Official Name:

Residence:

Budapesti Lantos Kórus Alapítvány

1074 Budapest, Rottenbiller utca 16-22.

We also hold our rehearsals in this building on Tuesdays and Fridays from 18.30 to 21.00 in the „Összpróba” room on the second floor.

Tax number:

19012607-1-42

Bank details:

Bank account: 16200230-10031872 (MagNet Bank)
IBAN: HU36 1620 0230 1003 1872 0000 0000
SWIFT (BIC): HBWEHUHB

Do you have any questions?

Would you like to know more about one of our concerts? Are you thinking of joining our choir? Do not hesitate to send us an email or text us on Messenger. We will try to respond as soon as possible.