Pannon PhilharmonicPannon Philharmonic Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of Pécs, a regional centre of science and arts including music. The predecessor of the present ensemble was founded by Viennese composer, György Lickl, in 1811. The orchestra from Pécs, boasting over 200 years of history, has made impressive progress for the past one and a half decades.
As a result, it has become a dominant orchestra and brand in the country. Since 2010 the Pannon PO has been the resident orchestra of Kodály Centre, a concert hall, regarded as having best acoustics in Hungary. The orchestra has enjoyed success outside Pécs as well; since the opening of Müpa in Budapest the orchestra has had sold-out concert series in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall and has also performed in the most significant concert halls of European capitals from Zürich and Vienna to the Grand Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Graduating from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the University of Pécs, Faculty of Economics, Zsolt Horváth, a trumpet player and economist, has been the Director of the orchestra for the past one and a half decades. Studying the operational elements, structural features and market operation of European top-class symphony orchestras 15 years ago, the director set up the possible cornerstones of development in Hungary. The project was implemented with the help of a professional management in accordance with the conscious effort of the incumbent art managements to develop the ensemble. The number of tickets sold by the orchestra has increased by more than a hundredfold compared to ticket sales in the pre-renewal period and the number of season tickets sold is more than five times more than earlier. At the same time, the artistic and professional prestige of the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra is in competition with the greatest national orchestras.
The orchestra’s artistic directors were Zsolt Hamar (2000-2009) and Zoltán Peskó (2009-2011). Tibor Bogányi has been Chief Conductor since 2011. The orchestra has been working with András Vass, Permanent Conductor since 2009. Until 2016, the orchestra’s first Guest Conductor was Zoltán Kocsis, Chief Music Director of the Hungarian National Philharmonic, who loved and respected the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra as his second orchestra for more than a decade.
The orchestra regularly works with the most prominent Hungarian artists, including Gergely Bogányi, Dezső Ránki, Miklós Perényi, István Várdai, Kristóf Baráti, Barnabás Kelemen, Erika Miklósa, Éva Marton, Gábor Tarkóvi, Péter Eötvös, Jenő Jandó, Dénes Várjon, György Vashegyi, Péter Frankl – for the mutual satisfaction of the parties involved. In addition to the independent, local concerts, the orchestra is regularly invited to the most important Hungarian festivals such as the Bartók Miskolc Plus Opera Festival or the Budapest Spring Festival. For many years the orchestra has been a permanent partner of the Budapest Festival Orchestra Marathon series and one of the founders of the Armel Opera Competition and Festival based on extensive international collaboration, whereby the orchestra have performed a number of award-winning productions.
The professional standards represented by Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra and the management of European attitude is confirmed by internationally renowned artists, as regular partners of the orchestra include such high-profile artists of the international music scene as Maxim Vengerov, Krzysztof Pendereczki, Leopold Hager, Mischa Maisky, Fazil Say, Roby Lakatos, Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Xavier de Maistre, Sharon Kam, Jonathan Cohen, Akiko Suwanai, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Andrej Gavrilov, Olari Elts, Gilbert Varga, Ivan Repusic, Riccardo Frizza, Dejan Lazić, and Nebojša Jovan Živković.
During their resident composer and soloist programs, the orchestra worked with such outstanding artists as Sándor Balassa, Levente Gyöngyössy, László Dubrovay, Gergely Bogányi, or Benjamin Schmid. The latter has made several CD recordings with the orchestra. Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra is a regular co-production partner for Müpa, where it has performed with outstanding artists such as Jessica Pratt and Anja Harteros, and during the International Domingo Festival, it gave joint summer concerts in Pécs with the opera singers of the New York Metropolitan Opera.
The orchestra was the ambassador of Pécs to the 2010 European Capital of Culture program, and in the Armel Opera Competition and Festival in 2015 they were awarded with a special prize for their outstanding musical performance, while in 2016 they contributed to the opening performance of the award-winning Eötvös opera, and in 2017 they were involved in the staging of the performance winning the People's Choice Award of the festival. In the autumn of 2017, the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra and the Festival Choir of the Orchestra were honoured for the most prestigious production of the 47th Varaždin Baroque Evenings.
Performances at the Opera Festival:
17. 06. 2018.
» A Bartók Plusz 2018 Concluding Gala
16. 06. 2017.
» A Bartók Plusz 2017 Opening Gala
11. 06. 2016.
» Bartók Marathon
09. 06. 2010.
» Opening Gala
20. 06. 2002.
» Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
