In 2006, Kálmán Oláh won one of the most prestigious competitions for composers in the jazz world, the grand prize of the Thelonious Monk Jazz Composers Competition. He was awarded the Liszt Prize in the same year. In 2007, he was recognised by the Hungarian Jazz Federation with the Gábor Szabó Lifetime Achievement Award, and received the Artisjus Prize in 2009. As both a pianist and composer, he is a believer in musical diversity that spans the genres: rather than the customary melody and... accompaniment, he favours a symphonic sound with all voices equal. As an improvisational performer and composer, he has long been excited by the interweaving of classical music and jazz. A highly successful concert of his own compositions for symphony orchestra and jazz group took place in 2013, since when his orchestral repertoire has continued to expand. Besides the Passacaglia for Orchestra & Jazz Trio and the Faust-Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, two new pieces for symphony orchestra that have already enjoyed an enthusiastic reception on a number of occasions, this concert will also feature internationally known Oláh compositions - played increasingly often by jazz musicians across Europe - which have been specially rearranged for symphony orchestra for the occasion.
Oláh finds equal fulfilment in both piano playing and composition. For this reason, this composer's evening provides an excellent opportunity for him to display both his diversity as a composer and his virtuosity and improvisational freedom as a performing artist. Additional excitement for both performer and audience is promised by the addition of outstanding artists from the cream of the jazz scene to the evening's line-up, just as Gerard Presencer, Ron McClure and Jack DeJohnette did at the last evening dedicated to Oláh's own music at Müpa in 2008. Star soloists from abroad will join their brilliant Hungarian colleague not only during the symphonic section, but also in the straight jazz portion of the evening.
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Refreshments – Without the Queue
Thanks to our new catering service at the Átrium Snack Bar, you can forget about waiting in line during intermissions for some refreshments and get your order prepped especially for you by the time the intermission actually starts. Find out more about pre-ordering here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.