In 2021, the world of music pays tribute to the memory of the globally celebrated Hungarian pianist, György Cziffra, and his 100th anniversary of the birth was included in the List of Anniversaries Recommended by the Executive Board of UNESCO. In the artist’s home country, Hungary, a grand-scale Memorial Year programme serie under the artistic leadership of the Hungarian concert pianist, János Balázs, is dedicated to this unforgettable piano genius. György Cziffra’s humanity, perseverance, strength and faith in the turbulence of history as well as his modern, inclusive attitude to art and his generous and aduous work devoted to the support of younger generations, can serve as a role model for people of today’s world.  

One of the partners of the cross-border cooperation within the framework of the Cziffra100 centenary year is the Chopin Piano Fest, Kosovo, a long-established friend of the Hungarian music scene. A vision of the Pristina-based event series with world-class guest artists for over a decade coincides with that of György Cziffra himself: to champion and support young talents. For this year’s festival, the organisers invited the Talent Awardee of the 2020 Cziffra Festival, pianist Gergely Kovács, who has won numerous honours and accolades and garnered great success at concerts in Hungary and abroad, even though he has only recently graduated from the Liszt Academy in Budapest. His concert programme lists the compositions of the infamous masters of improvisation, ranging from popular hits to rarely performed curiosities, connected by the invisible and infinite thread of inspiration. Regarding the concert programme it is also worthy of note that music pieces are well connected to each other: in his mature years, Liszt was profoundly influenced by Bach, while in his youth, in the world of Parisian salons, he was guided by Chopin on the previously untaken paths of poetry both in music and performance. The day after the concert Gergely Kovács helds a masterclass at the Faculty of Arts, University of Pristina.

More about the ChopinPianoFEST

ChopinPianoFEST Prishtina is a Festival established for the first time on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Chopin in 2010 by the Kosovo Chopin Association. Because of its great success and appreciation by the audience in Kosovo, it has become a traditional piano festival held in springtime in April every year. The festival is highly appreciated by critics, fans and the growing audience as an excellent presentation of the mastery of piano, offering interpretations by both world-renowned pianists and local talents. The attractive program is selected and prepared (in cooperation with participating artists) by Festival Artistic Director, Professor Lejla Haxhiu-Pula, the first pianist in Kosovo. Besides concerts with well -known performers, the festival dedicates a lot of space for promoting young talents with the Piano Podium, Skena Juvenis and Talent promotion of young pupils from local music schools.  A competition for the Special Prize of ChopinPianoFEST is awarded every year to the winner of the competition organised within the festival, where young talented pianists take part. The cooperation with the Hungarian culture scene is long-standing through the Hungarian Embassy in Kosovo, which has endorsed the finest Hungarian pianists and Hungarian composers. “We are happy to cooperate with the Cziffra Festival this year and hope to continue our cultural exchange in the future.”

Joint event of the Cziffra Festival and the Kosovo Chopin Association