New York visit
Nadin Varga performed again in New York, together with Zsombor Barkóczy, they presented the piece ” Turkish Tango” at the IYMC awards gala, after Nadin won an absolute winner and a second place at the International Youth Music Competitions. They have been invited by the Liszt Institute New York to perform their own piece on September 4.
“We left to New York on 29 August with high hopes. Resting from the fatigue of the journey and the jet lag, we set off on the 30th with renewed vigour on our journey, which took us first to the top of the Empire State Building. It was then that we saw this vast and magnificent city. Later, we visited many places we had only seen in movies or heard about in the news. We went to the Dakota House, which was next to Central Park, where the huge skyscrapers rose up from the greenery. One evening we visited Times Square, another place we’d heard about since childhood, it was an incredible experience to see the posters moving around on the screens, making the street so bright it was as if the sun had never set. The Brooklyn Bridge was not to be missed, which of course we walked along, and the walk on the Statue of Liberty island was a great experience. Getting a little more in the mood for music, one evening we went to the Blue Note Jazz Club for a concert, one of the most important jazz clubs in the world. On the first of September, we rested in the morning in preparation for our first concert, and then went to the Hungarian Consulate in New York for three hours to rehearse for the evening concert, which was at the DiMenna Center for the International Youth Music Competition awards. The concert was a huge success, we felt it was worth all the hard work and we were very happy with the end result. Our next trip was to the 9/11 Memorial, where we climbed to the top of the One World Observatory, where we were again treated to a stunning panorama. On the fourth of September we performed at Nadin’s Author’s Evening at the Hungarian Consulate in New York, a venue we are already familiar with. This concert was also very well attended, with a mixture of short film scores projected and live solo pieces played by Nadin. We repeated the Turkish Tango, which we also performed at the awards ceremony of the competition. Relieved after our successes, we returned to our accommodation and the next day we made a detour to Coney Island to visit the Aquarium and then headed to the airport to return home, full of new experiences and inspiration. We would like to thank the staff of the Hungarian Consulate in New York for the opportunity to rehearse and for organizing and hosting the authors’ evening, and the Csányi Foundation for making the trip possible!
Nadin Varga Mohács 2nd, Zsombor Barkóczy Pécs 2nd groups