Hungarian duo Sara Bolyki (right) and Petra Varallyay will come to Hà Nội on October 2. Photo coutersy of Hungary Embassy

HÀ NỘI — Young Hungarian duo, Sara Bolyki and Petra Várallyay, will perform in Hà Nội on October 4.

The concert is held by the Embassy of Hungary in Hà Nội, aiming to introduce a Hungarian folk jazz fusion concert to local audiences.

Having played together for ten years in various artistic projects and musical environments, Bolyki and Várallyay formed their extraordinary world-music duo in 2019.

Their repertoire consists of ethno-jazz arrangements as well as folk-inspired original compositions.

Bolyki is both a jazz vocalist and a folk musician; therefore, liberty and joy of improvisations are just as much present in her singing as the devotion to sincere authenticity.

She is a second-generation a cappellist, daughter of the oldest member of Bolyki Brothers, which is the most famous a cappella production of Hungary.

She has been with the group since 2015, and her guest performance helped Jazzation win the grand prix and the audience prize at the Leipzig International A cappella Competition.

After that, she officially took the stage as a member of the group, right in front of an audience of 25,000 at the Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan.

She graduated from the folk singing faculty of Liszt Ferenc Music in 2019. Besides her responsibilities in Jazzation, she teaches at a music school and is regularly invited as a soloist with Hungarian and Balkan folk music formations.

Várallyay achieved her first great success as a classical violinist, but later her interest increasingly led to improvisational fusion music and composition.

She studied jazz piano and jazz music at Bartók Konzi, then jazz composition and classical violin at the Academy of Music.

With her characteristic playing, she is as present in the cult concert venues of the underground music scene as she is on the stage of the most prestigious concert halls.

In addition to her own trio, she is a regular composer for the Jazzation acappella formation, having worked with Bobby McFerrin, Uri Caine, and Yo-Yo Ma, performing at numerous domestic and foreign festivals, touring a wide range of genres.

In recognition of her musical work, she received the Orszáczky Prize in 2016, the Junior Artisjus Prize in 2017, the Junior Prima Prize in 2020, and the Creative Art Prize in the piano improvisation competition founded by György Vukán in 2021.

In an hour-long concert at Hà Nội's Culture and Arts Centre at 22 Hàng Buồm Street, Hoàn Kiếm District, the duo will perform 13 pieces, including Hungarian folk and their compositions with a jazz style.

The artists will host a master class at the Việt Nam National Academy of Music on October 3 and perform at the Việt Nam National University in Hà Nội on October 4 within the framework of the Higher Education Seminar on the 10-year Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme in Việt Nam. — VNS