The performance will be broadcasted on our website and YouTube channel.


Led by Attila László, the Senior Big Band has already brought more than one unique production to the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, having previously conjured up a festive atmosphere along with double bassist Miroslav Vitous, singer Patti Austin, various divas of the Hungarian jazz world and the outstanding talents of the Jazz Showcase series. Now it is the approach of Christmas that they are celebrating - as well as simply the experience of live music in the time of the pandemic. And they will be doing this together with superb vocal and instrumental soloists in a show featuring vibrant arrangements of both familiar melodies and others waiting to be discovered.
The Senior Big Band is a full-size jazz orchestra composed of a shifting roster of outstanding musicians, typically graduates of Liszt Academy. No matter what the line-up, the ensemble always plays under the leadership of artistic director Attila László, who has taught big band performance at the Liszt Academy for decades now. The programme for the evening offers arrangements evoking the finest American jazz orchestra traditions like George Gershwin's I Got Rhythm, along with lesser-known numbers, all of them big band treats. The soloists will also get closely tailored tasks, with Veronika Harcsa singing her own composition along with her well-known musical partner, guitarist Bálint Gyémánt, in addition to performing a Christmas tune in a fashion that is not her usual one. Which is the same way Péter Szolnoki will conjure up a pop classic viewed more than 500 million times on the internet - this time pulsing with swing. With Christmas a little over two weeks away, naturally there will also have to be some music flowing with the atmosphere of Advent: with these however, it is the brilliant arrangements that will win everyone over, rather than any excessive jingling of sleigh bells.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest