Education:
From 1983 to 1987, this artist attended the Secondary School of Architecture in Lucenec, Slovakia, where they focused on Geodesy. They continued their studies at the University of Technical Sciences in Kosice from 1987 to 1988, concentrating on the Faculty of Architecture. Subsequently, from 1992 to 1997, they pursued studies in the Folklore Department at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Between 1997 and 2000, they were awarded a "Young Researcher" Scholarship at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' Institute for Musicology. They have been enrolled in the Doctoral School of Hungarian and Comparative Folklore at Eötvös Loránd University since 2000, with a dissertation topic focusing on the Traditional Instrumental Music of Hungarians in Slovakia.
Professional Experience:
In 1988, they began their career as a geometer at Geodézia National Company in Bratislava, Slovakia, before undergoing compulsory military training from 1988 to 1990. In 1990, they took on the role of program manager at the Independent Hungarian Initiative in Bratislava, followed by a position as an editor at NAP Independent Hungarian Weekly from 1990 to 1992. They worked at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Musicology in the Folk Music Department from 1997 to 2000. From 1997 to 2001, they were a musician in the folk music band Hegedős, part of the Honvéd Ensemble in Budapest. From 2001 to 2005, they served as director of the Folk Art Department at the Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest, and since 2005, they have worked as a researcher and ethnographer in the Management of the Hungarian Heritage House.
Scientific Experience:
Since 1986, they have engaged in folk music research, primarily focusing on the music of Hungarians in Slovakia, while also amassing a collection that includes Slovak, Rutenian, Gypsy, Croatian, German, Romanian, and Polish folk music recordings. In 1999 and 2000, they managed the Slovakian segment of the "Utolsó óra" ("The Last Hour") folk music collection project at Fonó Music House, supported by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 2000, they undertook a two-week folk music collection tour in the Cabardin-Balkar and Karachay-Cherkes republics of the Russian Federation. They chaired and organized the Conference on Tradition and Nature at the Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest in 2003.
Performing Arts:
Their performing career began with the Palóc folk dance ensemble in Filakovské Biskupice from 1984 to 1987 as a solo dancer. They were a dancer with the Új Nemzedék folk dance ensemble in Kosice from 1987 to 1988, and subsequently, from 1988 to 1992, they performed as a solo singer and wind instrument player with the Szőttes folk dance ensemble in Bratislava. Between 1997 and 2001, they were a solo singer and wind instrument player with the Hegedős band of the Honvéd Ensemble in Budapest. Since 2001, they have been a solo singer and wind instrument player, as well as the band leader of the Fonó Ensemble in Budapest.
Awards:
In 1993, they received the "Young Master of Folk Art" ministerial award in the singer and musician soloist category. Their study titled "Egy szürke meg egy hamuszín galamb” ("A Traditional Intellectual Culture in the Life of a Hungarian Shepherd from the Nógrád County") earned them second prize in the Martin György Foundation Competition in 1997. They were also awarded the "Choc de l'anné" Prize by Le Monde de la Musique in Paris in 2003 for the CD Mixtura Cultivalis.
Public Education:
In 1990, they founded the Hungarian Folklore Society in Slovakia and served as the music manager of Táncház Festivals in Slovakia from 1990 to 1999, notably in Dunajská Streda and Komárno. They worked as a publicist for the Slovak Program of the Hungarian Radio from 1993 to 1996 and were an organizer of the National Táncház Festival and Crafts Market in Budapest in 1995, 1996, and 1999. They managed folk music camps for the Hungarian Folklore Society in Slovakia from 1991 to 2002 and acted as festival manager for the Folklore Meeting of the Countries of the Visegrad Cooperation in 2002. They also coordinated the folklore section of the "Ungheria in Primo Piano" during the Hungarian Cultural Year in Italy.
Courses and Workshops:
They participated in various courses and workshops, including the Folklore Summer Camp in Jászberény from 1994 to 1997, and the Folklore Camp of the Hungarian Folklore Society in Slovakia from 1998 to 2001, focusing on folk songs, flute, and tárogató. They attended the Egyszólam Folk Music Camp in Váralja from 1998 to 2004 for master courses in folk singing. They also taught a tutorial on "Anthropology of Music Culture" at Miskolc University from 2000 to 2001 and led a two-year course for folk dance teachers organized by the Hungarian Folklore Society in Slovakia during the same period. Additionally, they served as a teacher of folklore, folk music theory, and history at the Secondary Music School in Vác from 2003 to 2004.
