Budapester Klezmer Band

The Budapest Klezmer Band, founded in 1990, comes from the heart of Europe, from the very geographic location where klezmer music originates. The Band's performance is an exciting musical experience in traditional Jewish folklore. They play musical arrangements, composed by the founder and musical director of the ensemble, Ferenc J‘vori, who grew up in the former Munkács (Munkacevo, now part of the Ukraine). Jávori learned and played klezmer with the last surviving musicians from a once flourishing community where this music was an integral part of Jewish life. Other members of the band are also exceptional musicians, most being graduates of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music of Budapest.

The performance by the Budapest Klezmer Band transfers the audience back to now extinct joyous times in Central and Eastern Europe, when traditional Jewish music was part of the community's cultural fabric. The Band also specializes in theatrical productions, appearing on stage with performers. They are currently featured in the ballet PURIM, The Casting of Fate, and in the Fiddler on the Roof production of the prestigious Mad‘ch Theater in Budapest. Their climactic performances with the famous Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra playing at the Academy of Music in Budapest were resounding successes and were heralded as an initial step in bringing klezmer music to the classical concert hall. In 2000 the Pro Cultura Foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences awarded Kodály Zoltán Cultural Prize to the Budapest Klezmer Band for promoting and spreading Yiddish musical tradition, and in August of 2003 the band got the Artisjus Prize.