INTRODUCTION

The International Eötvös Institute Foundation was initiated and founded by renowned Hungarian musicians and artistic executives in 1991. It’s original aims were to establish an institution that educates orchestral musicians, organizes post-graduate education for young conductors and promotes the Hungarian culture internationally – in the era when Hungary opened it’s borders to the western culture.

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The Foundation’s headquarter and the main venue for our planned programs was supposed to be the king’s old castle at Gödöllő. However, a few years later the government decided to use the castle for an other purpose and therefore we weren’t given the opportunity to use it for our projects. We started to collaborate with international partners, big European orchestras, and music universities to organize master courses, tours and concerts for young artists. In this series of programs between 1991 and 2003, we aimed to introduce the 20-21st century’s contemporary music and it’s interpretation to young artists who finished their studies in higher education. In order to achieve this, our program principally consisted of pieces from composers of the 20-21st century like Stockhausen, Boulez, Webern, Berio, Ligeti and Kurtág, whose compositions weren’t a part of the official curriculums back then.

In the middle of the 90’s a new change started to evolve within the concert-industry. The big orchestras opened towards contemporary music and started to include pieces from the 20th century in their repertoire and more and more young composers got the chance to introduce themselves. Peter Eötvös wished to hand over his knowledge within this field to the younger generation. Our programs were based on such skills as rehearsal-structure planning, new composing and conducting techniques, instrumental and acoustical teachings, budget-planning, management and publisher education. To be able to teach all these we occasionally invited well-known artists and executives on these fields to give lectures.

By the beginning of the 21st century contemporary music and it’s playing became much more natural and regular, new young orchestras were founded, and a new market which employed young conductors and composers evolved. The possibility for integrating the young generation has never been easier, and the demand for young composers and conductors has never been higher.

Peter Eötvös’s professional knowledge and international recognition guaranteed the background for our planned programs. Our conception and the need for it was proven as we were supported and sponsored by such recognized artists, cultural executives and political persons as Otto von Habsburg, Madame Georges Pompidou, Catherine Tasca, Pierre Boulez, György Ligeti, Miklós Perényi or Pierre Voslinsky.

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OTTO VON HABSBURG
Mitglied des Europaischen Parlaments

30th May 1991

This is to recommend most warmly the representatives of the International Eötvös Institute of Gödöllő. Their projects in the cultural field are very worth-while. Communism has destroyed much in Hungary and the reconstruction of the country...
...should be extended also to culture. In this sense the project of Gödöllő would be extremely helpful in rebuilding Hungary as a worth-while part of the European community, and consequently of democratic humanity.


OTTO VON HABSBURG

Madame Georges Pompidou

16 avril 1991

Connaissant votre dynamisme, je ne peux que me réjouir de vos intentions et de l'aide que vous pourrez apporter á de jeunes Chefs d'Orchesre en début de carriére.


George Pompidou



Ministré de la Culture
Paris

23 avril 1991

Je trouve ce programme tout á fait passionant et susceptible d'intéresser beaucoup de partenaires en Europe.

Je souhaite beaucoup que ton projet trouve tant en Hongrie que dans d'autres pays européens les soutiens artistiques et financiers nécessaires.

Catherine Tasca



3 mai 1991

Cher Peter, Je juge votre initiative prometteuse, car aujourd'hui les chefs ne bénéficient malheureusement pas, en début de carriére, d'un apprentissage de haut niveau, apte á faciliter leur introduction dans la vie professionnelle.

Je souhaite que votre projet réponde rapidement aux basoins évidents des jeunes interprétes...



Pierre Boulez

Ligeti György
1991. április 12.

Kedves Eötvös úr!

A gödöllői Intézet kiválóan szolgálhatja Magyarország bekapcsolódását a nemzetközi kulturális vérkeringésbe.

Az Ön személye garancia számomra, hogy az új Intézet nemzetközileg a legmagasabb zenepedagógiai igényeknek fog megfelelni.

A magam részéről biztosítom Önt, hogy az Intézetet szívből támogatom.


Ligeti György

ORCHESTRE DE PARIS

11 avril 1991

Je considére qu'il y a lá un projet d'un trés grand intérét et qui pourrait comblet un besoin de formation évident.


Pierre VOZLINSKY

Peter Eötvös established a new foundation in 2004 – under the name of Eötvös Peter Contemporary Music Foundation - which has been broadening the field of activity of the previous Foundation (est. in 1991). Besides helping conductors and musicians we undertook the supporting and promoting of young composers, musicologists, dramaturgs and the organizing of joint workshops for them. We assist and support their career into the music industry through organizing workshops, courses, competitions, concerts and projects.

Our goal is not only to give professional training and support for artists but to promote information on contemporary music internationally, to establish eastern-western connections and to broaden the audience for contemporary music. Particularly, we would like to grasp the attention of the young generation – students within the higher-education – whom we’re trying to make our base of audience. In order to achieve this we’re announcing a series of interactive programs in which we’re inviting well-known musicians for an evening-lecture and also connecting it with other representatives from different fields of art such as writers, painters, architects, film-makers, etc.

We believe that it’s important for the audience to get to know “it’s own generation” within the music, as well as in architecture, applied and fine-arts, which is already in progress thanks to the technological inventions nowadays. We would like to increase the acceptance of contemporary music and also to establish a community-forming aspect to it. Music is a form of communication and information; its content and technique is placed in the ‘present’ just like everything else in our lives. It is high time to eliminate the word "contemporary" from the expression "contemporary music" - it should be music and quality in the first place.

In 2013 the foundation has moved to the new Budapest Music Center which serves as the home base of the foundation eversince. The cooperation with Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne has begun in 2015 and was extended towards a 3+3-year Mentoring Program in 2018 until 2023.

Since 2018 Gregory Vajda is the program director of the foundation.