New World – 80 years of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra

At the opening concert of our 2025/26 season, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of our orchestra. We are proud to have achieved great success over these eight decades with the finest musicians of the Hungarian and international music scene, both at home and in many parts of the world. The program of our anniversary concert evokes the intertwined history of music and railways, and pays tribute to our founder, MÁV Hungarian State Railways Ltd., which has recognized and valued our artistic work since 1945.

When the first public passenger railway began operating in northeast England two hundred years ago, the new invention was met with both admiration and skepticism. Gyula Bánkövi's newly composed work was commissioned by the MÁV Symphony Orchestra to mark the bicentenary of this historic event, and evokes musical images such as Honegger's similar "railway" composition. Another special treat for Hungarian audiences is the world-famous Wynton Marsalis trumpet concerto, performed this time with a solo by Gábor Tarkövi, a trumpet artist highly regarded throughout Europe. The evening closes with Dvořák's best-known symphony, the New World – not only because the composer was known to be a railway enthusiast, but also because his work symbolizes discovery and new horizons.