International Conference of Chief Conductors
Szöveg: Capt. Ildikó Gémes | 2012. július 1. 7:03“As a garrison commander, I meet the military bands on several occasions during national holidays and events as well as on my visits abroad, and I can sincerely say I highly appreciate their professional activity”, Brig.-Gen. István Kun Szabó, the commander of the HDF Support Brigade recently said in opening the International Conference of Chief Conductors in Budapest.
The International Conference of Chief Conductors has recently been organized in Hungary for the ninth time. The invited bandmasters of 13 countries came from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Canada and Hungary.
The professional forum took place for the first time on Germany’s initiative in 2003. The aim of the conference is to allow the bandmasters an insight into each other’s activities and task systems. Since then, the conference has become a prestigious event which provides the leaders in this branch of service with a venue for a wide-ranging exchange of ideas, discussion of professional issues and networking.
In his opening speech, Brig.-Gen. István Kun Szabó stressed that the military bands have high artistic value, and their music bridges the gap between the military and the civilian population, the wider public. He said that he had participated in the international festival of military bands that took place in Debrecen in 2011, which was an extraordinary experience for him.
At the conference, the chief conductors discussed the current issues and gave a comprehensive picture of the professional situation in their countries. Col. Zsolt Csizmadia, the chief conductor of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the main organizer of the event told us that the participants had to keep to a very tight schedule so that they can discuss every important issue on the agenda during the three days of the meeting. That said, the guests had some free time as well so they were able to see the Parliament building and go on a sightseeing tour around the city.
Photo: WO1 Lajos Szabó
