Marta Sebestyen live in Wellington
Hungarian folk-singer Márta Sebestyén will be live in concert at Wellington’s Old St Paul’s on 2 June.
The rare opportunity to hear the voice of the 1996 Oscar winning film The English Patient in person in New Zealand has come about with the Magyar Millennium Park, a memorial for Hungarians in New Zealand, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.
Designated UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2010, the multi award winning Sebestyen sang at the memorial’s opening in 2003. The world renowned folk singer is globally respected for her efforts to strengthen the dialogue among cultures through music. She has close affiliations with New Zealand too, ranging from early WOMAD appearances to most recently having featured in John Psathas’ World War I commemorative project No Man’s Land.
Sebestyen is considered one of the most authentic interpreters of Hungarian traditional folk music, including songs from far-flung regions that were once part of Greater Hungary. “Wherever in the world I sing those songs I learnt from them, I don’t in fact sing to them, I sing instead of them, and for them,” she said after a recent performance in Romania.
The opportunity to hear Sebestyen’s delicate, lace-like singing live in concert with multi-instrumentalist and hurdy-gurdy specialist Bela Szerenyi will be in Wellington at Old St Paul's, 7.30pm on 2 June and in Auckland at the Holland Clubhouse (123 Rockfield Rd), 6pm on 3 June (door sales only for both events). The “Magyar Concert” in Wellington will also feature the popular Csardas Hungarian dancers from Auckland.
Contact - Klara Szentirmay (Chairperson, Magyar Millennium Park Trust): klara.szentirmay@gmail.com, tel. 021 907 487
