CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Beáta Palya

Zankel Hall
Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 8:30 PM

Beáta Palya
András Dés, Percussion
Balázs Szokolay Dongó, Shepherd’s Flutes, Bagpipes, Kaval and Soprano Saxophone
Angela Chun, Violin
Jennifer Chun, Violin

A new voice in the international music scene, Hungary’s rising star Beáta Palya makes her New York debut merging Hungarian folk and Gypsy music with jazz and pop influences. Palya is accompanied by percussion, shepherd’s flutes, bagpipes, kaval, soprano saxophone, and more.

Celebrating Hungary is sponsored by Erste Group.

Presented by Carnegie Hall in partnership with the World Music Institute.

Beáta Palya
Beáta Palya, born in 1976 in Hungary, is a rising star in the Hungarian music scene. She joined Zurgo, a traditional folk group, at the age of 16 and studied the ancient song cultures of Hungary and Transylvania where she explored the relationship between traditional and modern music.

To the Hungarian folk music of her youth, she has incorporated jazz, Gypsy, Indian, and Persian influences. Four years spent working with the musical theater company Szôke "Bladder Circus" Szabolcs allowed her to explore a range of vocal traditions from around the world, all of which have added to her vocal development.

Between 1997 and 2003 Palya joined the folk group Karpatia as its principal singer and dancer; co-founded the world-music group Folkestra with Andras Monori; performed with Sebo, a traditional troubadour group; and toured Japan with the celebrated classical organist Laszlo Fassang. In 2002 she was awarded the Artisjus prize for music in Hungary.

Palya officially launched her career as a soloist in January 2003; her first solo album, From Branch to Branch—Tradition in Motion, was released on Orpheia. She has performed in Paris, Amsterdam, Budapest, London, Sao Paulo, and Moscow, and appeared in Athens at the 2004 Cultural Olympiad. In 2005 Palya formed her own quintet with Lukács Miklós, Novák Csaba, Balázs Szokolay Dongó, and Dés András. A recent performance highlight was her appearance with her ensemble at the Royal Opera House in London.

In 2006 her second solo album, Álom-álom, kitalálom (a musical fairytale for adults and children recorded in 2004) was translated into a Hungarian theater production. That year she also recorded seven songs for the soundtrack of—and played a role in—Tony Gatlif’s film Transylvania; released her third solo album, Psyché, to great acclaim; and received the 2006 Aphelandra Award, a Hungarian award for humanist and cultural achievements. She later recorded Adieu les complexes with the Palya Bea Quintet, released in France on the Naïve label in 2008.

In 2007 Palya was appointed Hungary’s Ambassador of Equal Opportunities in the European Year of Equal Opportunities. In 2008 Minister of Education and Culture Istvan Hiller appointed her as Global Ambassador of Hungarian Culture.

András Dés, Percussion

Balázs Szokolay Dongó, Shepherd’s Flutes, Bagpipes, Kaval and Soprano Saxophone

Angela Chun, Violin

Jennifer Chun, Violin