XpatLoop Interview: Stefan Englert, MD, Budapest Festival Orchestra
- 20 Sep 2012 12:00 PM
Stefan is the Managing Director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, one of the world’s leading orchestras ranked by experts under the 10 best orchestras. Stefan has held this key role since January 2012. Prior to joining the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Stefan gained experiences in music management at one of the most prestigious music festival in Europe, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
Most recently he was Orchestra manager at the Bamberg Symphony Orchestras one of the major German orchestras, where he was responsible for the artistic planning and touring. Stefan was born in Germany near Frankfurt and graduated of the Hamburg University with a Master of Philosophy and Political Science.
Stefan is married and has twenty month old son.
1. When did you arrive in Hungary and what brought you here?
I came to Budapest on January 1, 2012 to take over the position of a managing director of one of the world’s finest orchestras: the Budapest Festival Orchestra
2. Have you ever been an expatriate elsewhere?
No, it is the very first time for me.
3. What surprised you most about Hungary?
I realized that some words in Hungarian are exactly the same as in Korean, the language of my wife
4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?
Sit at the Liszt Ferenc ter and visit a concert of one of Hungary’s cultural treasures: the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
5. What is your favourite Hungarian food?
Goose liver.
6. What is never missing from your refrigerator?
Raw milk cheese
7. What is your favourite Hungarian word?
Zene
8. What do you miss the most from home?
As Budapest is my home: my family when I am not at home.
9. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
If I would not work for such a wonderful institution I would aim to be a philosophy scholar
10. What's a job you would definitely never want?
Any 9-5 job
11. Where did you spend your last vacation?
Corfu.
12. Where do you hope to spend your next one?
Bahia
13. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
Pixies, Une histoire de vent
14. What can't you resist?
Korean food
15. Red wine or white?
Red
16. Book or movie?
All in good time
17. Morning person or night person?
Since I am father of a little boy: morning person
18. Which social issue do you feel most strongly about?
Equality of opportunity
19. Buda side or Pest side?
Buda side
20. What would you say is your personal motto?
Carpe Diem