István Pál “Szalonna” and his band
The Band, celebrated g its 15th anniversary in 2020, has been an outstanding ensemble in the Hungarian folk music life for the past decade.
They play captivating authentic tunes from the Carpathian Basin at concerts spreading the beauty of Hungarian folk music all over the world.
Members of the Band:
István Pál “Szalonna” – prime violin, singing
Eszter Pál – singing
Tamás Gombai – violin
Attila Gera – wind instruments
Gyula Karacs – viola
Sándor Ürmös – cimbalom
Róbert Doór – double bass
The Band is a regular performer of noted national art events, festivals, plays in the biggest concert halls of Hungary and on television. They have performed with huge successes throughout the world in Europe, America and Asia.
Their main ambition is to preserve and sing traditional Hungarian folk songs together with the participants in their ever-expanding folk camps, through this achieving Zoltán Kodály’s intentions and endeavours.
They are honoured by love of the audiences all over the world.
All the musicians of the group are also members of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble. They were awarded by the Príma Primissima Prize, and received the Hungarian Heritage Award in 2013.
István Pál, currently the art director of the Hungarian Heritage House, is the owner of the Liszt Ferenc Award (2015), and Merited Artist Award (2019).
“Szalonna” and his musicians are noted talents of all fields of folk music, they are virtuoso masters of their instruments. Besides the violin, the cimbalom has a leading role as well as the wind instruments supplemented by a robust accompanying section.
