Symphonic

The new musical world is the source of new experiences „Powerful stuff... spine-tingling and emotional as hell!” Bertis Downs (manager of R.E.M. about the HAVASI Symphonic) HAVASI then and now Balazs HAVASI graduated from the piano faculty of the Liszt Ferenc University of Music. He already taught piano in the Conservatory of Budapest at the age of 21, where his students were often older than him in the initial years. His classes were then soon filled with young people; he earned respect with his unpretentious approach and professional prowess. He gave concerts in several European cities as a classical musician and also won several piano competitions, including the international Yamaha Piano Contest organized by the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe. However, the year 2005 brought about a turning point in his career. That was the year when he bid farewell to classical music and the crossover genre – even if not for good – so that he could dedicate all his attention to his own compositions. Four albums of HAVASI’s own music were produced in a row, creating a uniquely characteristic musical world that quickly captured the hearts of the audience with its emotional and deep world of thought. HAVASI founded The Unbending Trees with singer-songwriter Kristóf Hajós in 2007; and they quickly earned recognition from the most renowned British music critics (The Times, The Guardian, The Independent). There has never been a Hungarian band with such successes before. Pete Paphides, one of the most respected music reviewers of the UK flew to Budapest only to interview the two artists, and then tried to solve the riddle of their success on a full page spread in The Times. Considered one of the finest female vocalists of the world, Tracey Thorn, the world-famous singer of Everything But The Girl has been so enchanted by their music that her latest solo album includes a version of „You Are A Lover”, a song by HAVASI and Hajós. Many years of work, thorough training in classical music, 25 years spent on the stage and all those experiments in music now pinnacle in a completely new musical material in 2010: Symphonic RED. What makes a Hungarian composer unique today? It is the ability to create something that nobody else in the world can. HAVASI has dreamt up a concept in music that is yet unparalleled. He has created a new, multicultural genre that includes the musical styles of many different peoples from India to Armenia, while the entire musical structure rests on particular classical foundations and Hungarian stylistic features. The name of this new genre is World Classical Music. Almost 100 artists participate in the project. The Dohnányi Symphonic Orchestra, the Budapest Academic Choral Society, the Kyo-Kito Taiko Japanese Drum Ensemble, Péter Pejtsik (After Crying), Edina „Mókus” Szirtes, Endi (Hooligans), Kristóf Hajós and Bíborka Bocskor with fifteen additional highly trained soloists guarantee absolute success. Creating a new genre and the world record Not only the genre is unique. The private premiere of the RED Symphonic production also featured a new Guinness World Record by HAVASI as he hit the same piano key 498 times in 60 seconds! Andrea Bánfi, the authorized supervisor of Guinness World Records presented the prize and the certificate of the world record in the Concert Hall of the Music Academy. HAVASI now officially holds the title of „The Fastest Pianist Of The World”. The special concert movie that also includes the extraordinary feat of breaking the world record will be shown in the digital screening rooms of Palace Cinemas from May 2010.