Zoltán Rácz (Amadinda) Interview - September 22, 2023

The first of a series of interviews done at CMPR. We will be interviewing all of our guest artists and releasing those under our membership site.
Zoltán Rácz is a former professor of Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music Budapest, founder/artist of the Amadinda Percussion Group (1984-2022), and founding member and principal timpanist of Budapest Festival Orchestra (1992-1996). Additionally, he served as music director for Hungary’s leading contemporary music group, the UMZE Chamber Ensemble (1997-2018).
„They are among the most dazzling percussionists you might hear this side of Bali.” (The Guardian, London)
Amadinda Percussion Group gave its first performance at the Liszt Academy Budapest in 1984.
In 1985 the group won the first prize at Gaudeamus Contemporary Music Competition in Rotterdam. During the past decades Amadinda became one of the most renowned percussion groups all over the world performing in 35 countries of 4 continents. The group appeared at many prestigious festivals in Europe such as Paris Autumn, Sidney Spring Festival, Prague Spring, Zagreb Biennale, Warsaw Autumn, Tampere Biennale, Bath Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Festival, BBC Proms, Berlin Biennale and Wiener Festwochen. Amadinda performed also at Carnegie Hall and Meyerson Hall in the USA, Japan, Mexico City, China, Lebanon, Armenia and four times in Taiwan at Taipei International Percussion Convention. Amadinda has recorded more than ten CD-s for Hungaroton, including the complete percussion works of John Cage. Additional recordings were made for TELDEC (The Ligeti Project) and for Tzadik, New York.
John Cage dedicated his 72 minutes long composition Four4 to Amadinda. The piece was premiered in Tokyo during the group's first tour in Japan in 1992. In 2000, they performed the world premiere of György Ligeti's new piece Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel for mezzo soprano and percussion, composed for the group as well. In 2009, Steve Reich, one of the greatest living composers, composed and dedicated a new piece for the ensemble - "Mallet Quartet" - on the occasion of Amadinda’s 25th anniversary.
In 1988 Amadinda Percussion Group was awarded the Franz Liszt Prize by the Hungarian government as well as the Order of the Merit of the Hungarian Republic by the President of Hungary in 1997. In 2004 Amadinda received the Kossuth Prize, the highest artistic prize of Hungary. In addition, they received a very prestigious prize in 2008: the Bartók Béla - Pásztory Ditta prize.
Amadinda has collaborated actively in the past decades with renowned artists like Zoltán Kocsis, András Schiff, Éva Marton, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, James Wood, Theatre of Voices and Paul Hillier, Eighth Blackbird, Iván Fischer and Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Collaboration with such names has greatly contributed to the fact that informed international opinion holds Amadinda to be one of the most original and multifaceted percussion groups in the world.
www.amadinda.com
www.kucmpr.org...

[@jerkerjohansson3642]

Thank you for this interview!