Bartók Béla Male Choir

The choir was founded in 1944 by the members of the choirs, that ceased ro exist during the war. This time they were operating under the lead of Mrs. József Sólyom until 1957.

The choir was supperted by the Union Committee of the Transportation Company Pécs. The members were mainly workers of the Company (trolley drivers, ticket inspectors, drivers). The choir initiated and started the nationwide song-meeting of KSZDSZ choirs, held in different cities year by year.They even made it to the National Choral Meeting in Debrecen during the time of their second conductor, Ligeti Lajos. Over this period they reached foreign countries trough their choral exchange partnerships. First Osijek, then Lahti, later Leipzig. They achieved good results at nationwide music competitions with the leadership of conductors as István Hegyi, Valér Jobbágy, later József Hergenrőder. in 1980 Tamás Lakner, Lisz-prize winner conductor took over the directing responsibilities from his predecessors.  The youthful upswing gave a new direction to the choir, followed by performances of new modern works, tours abroad and competitions.

After the political transition in Hungary, new possibilites opened for the choir, bringing a series of international and nationwide recognition. The choir participated in many concerts, competitions and concert tours overseas, for example in the USA, Canada (1998), Spain (1999), South-America (Uruguay, Brasil, Argentina) (2004). The countless sound records (cassettes, CD-s) are held in high esteem. The crowning achievement of this was a CD containing Kodály’s male choir works, published by Hungaroton in 2005, followed by a special, double sided CD in 2010.

Since 1993 the choir serves as the main organizer and director of the unique and succesfull World-, and European Winesong Festivals, held at the end of September every year.