Anima Musicae
Based in the Óbudai Társaskör venue, the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra was established by the best students of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary, in 2010. Its debut was an immediate sell-out success resulting in numerous invitations, allowing them to build a notable reputation not just in Hungary, but in France, Italy, Austria, Spain, Germany and Serbia as well. Their mission is to create a musical workshop where the quality sound, the love of noble musical traditions and the respect for the value-creating examples of great predecessors are just as essential as the strong wish for constant self-renewal.
In 2011 the ensemble won 1st prize in the category of string orchestra „with outstanding success” at the 5th Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival, which was held in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. In 2012 the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra became the first musical ensemble to be awarded the Junior Prima Prize by Hungary’s Prima Primissima Foundation. In 2014 the orchestra got into the first four participant in the category of “Chamber Music” at the Torneo Internazionale di Musica, a competition in Paris which hosted more than three thousand musical ensembles.
Since its establishment the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra has performed in some of the most prominent venues, such as the Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, the Bartók Béla National Concert Hall at the MÜPA, the Marble Hall of the Hungarian Radio, the Kodály Center in Pécs, and the Abbey of Pannonhalma; but it has been successful on the most important stages abroad too, like the Teatro Verdi in Sardinia, the Auditorio in Zaragoza, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Musikverein in Wien, the Kammermusiksaal of the Berliner Philharmonie, moreover it has been recently invitated to the famous Guitar Art Festival in Belgrade, and to NOMUS Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia.
They are also regular guests at the Budapest Spring Festival and the Ars Sacra Festival among others in the country, and have participated at the “I grandi interpreti della Musica 2013” in Sassari, Italy. In 2015 the orchestra’s first album featuring works by W. A. Mozart was released by the Hungarian record label Hungaroton.
The orchestra has performed with such esteemed musicians as Roberto Aussel, Kristóf Baráti, Prisca Benoȋt, Barnabás Dukay, Sir James Galway, Noémi Győri, Michele Kalmandy, Barnabás Kelemen, Polina Pasztircsák, Ferenc Rados, Ditta Rohmann, Imre Rohmann, János Rolla, Gyula Stuller, Vilmos Szabadi, Kirill Troussov, Mladen Tcholitch, Dénes Várjon, István Várdai and Tamás Vásáry to name just a few. The Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra proudly takes it upon itself to promote and debut several young musical talents.
Besides performing the classical repertoire, the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra considers its artistic duty to promote contemporary Hungarian compositions, many of which are written especially for them. They have also launched a workshop that focuses on contemporary music with the aim of making modern music more comprehensible to audiences through the means of illustrative discussions.
The choice of the name “Anima Musicae” meaning “The Soul of Music” echoes the orchestra’s deep love of music and innermost wish to share it with their audience.