“We refer to the oeuvre of Sándor Végh as a spiritual guide. His entire career is confirmation of something that the world today is lacking altogether. A musical work can only be born when the audience in the given space is involved in its genesis. I believe the lack of this approach constitutes a dire gap in current-day musical life.” – said András Keller, member of the organising committee.

State Secretary for Culture Géza Szőcs said that Végh had never received the attention he deserved in his lifetime, neither in Hungary nor abroad, but the debt would be settled soon. The State Secretariat for Culture is providing seed capital of 50 million forints for the series of events.

The competitors - 14 quartets from 8 different countries - will play Végh’s favourite pieces as well as a piece commissioned from the composer Péter Tornyai, who was the winner of the chamber section of the 2011 New Hungarian Musical Forum (UMFZ). Beside Ferenc Rados, János Rolla and András Keller, the jury for the contest will include Valentin Erben and Gerhard Schulz from the Alban Berg Quartet, Arvid Engegaard from the Engegaard String Quartet, Stephan Goerner from the Carmina String Quartet and Johannes Meissl from the Artis Quartet.

The competition rounds and the gala concerts will be held between 4th and 11th of June at the Budapest Palace of Arts, the Concert Hall of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the F. Liszt Academy of Music and the Hungarian Radio Marble Hall. Details of the contest can be seen at http://www.veghsandor.com/.

Source: State Secretariat for Culture - kormany.hu