An international cooperation agreement between the Lithuanian Liszt Association “Lisztuania” and the Ferenc Liszt Music Festival was signed on 20 October 2024 at the Royal Palace of Gödöllő. The two organisations, which promote Liszt’s music worldwide, have agreed to share and jointly disseminate information and recommend to each other the best of their artists for concerts in Hungary and Lithuania.
The agreement was signed by Lisztuania President Prof. Mūza Rubackytė, Director Šarūnas Leonas, Artistic Director of the Liszt Festival in Gödöllő, Alex Szilasi, and the Managing Director of the Royal Palace in Gödöllő, Dr. Tamás Ujvári.
The agreement to cooperate was born in Vilnius after M. Rubackytė received an honourable Hungarian state award. The Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit was awarded to the pianist for her “consistent and purposeful promotion of Liszt, the founding of the Lisztuania association and the regular organisation of the “Lisztofonia” competition”. The award was presented in Vilnius on 11 April 2024 by the President of Hungary, Tamás Sulyok. Read more about the award here.
The cooperation agreement between the “Lisztofonia” Piano Competition and the Liszt Festival is an international recognition and appreciation of the “Lisztofonia” Piano Competition organised by Lisztuania together with the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. The Liszt Festival in Gödöllő annually invites the most distinguished representatives of the Hungarian and international music scene to perform. Now in its 22nd year, the festival is the most important series of events promoting Liszt’s music in Hungary.
The recital of Prof. Mūza Rubackytė on the eve of the signing of the agreement, which took place in the prestigious Carmelite Concert Hall, was a solid start to this international cooperation.
The “Lisztofonia” Piano Competition, which has been organised since 2017 and is “younger” in terms of experience, consolidates this agreement and opens up new opportunities for its laureates. The recital of Simonas Poška, winner of the Lisztofonia III competition, on the stage of the Gödöllő Kings’ Palace at this year’s Liszt Festival confirms that pianists who have passed the quality bar of the competition are appreciated and welcomed on the international stage.
We would like to thank Dr. Gábor Tamás Nagy, First Secretary of the Hungarian Mission in Lithuania, for his many years of support. We welcome the presence of Dénes András Nagy, who will replace him in Lithuania from 2025, and the presence of the Minister Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of Lithuania in Hungary, Deputy Head of the DA, Miglė Jurgita Jankauskienė, at the ceremony.
We are happy that the promotion of Liszt’s values strengthens cultural and artistic bridges between generations and countries.
Speech by Mūza Rubackytė in English before the signing of the historical cooperation: read here.
More about the Liszt Festival in Gödöllő: https://lisztfesztival.com/main-page.html
More about Lisztofonia: https://www.lisztuania.com/lisztofonija/
More about Royal Palace of Gödöllő: https://kiralyikastely.hu/royal-palace-of-godollo.html
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