Once again, Symphonia Fantasia’s Christmas Concert offers a true treat for lovers of classical music.
We can enjoy the very finest of Romantic works, presented in the usual short, stylistically varied sequence, enriched with Maestro Ménesi’s musical references and stories.
Famous works by German, French, Austrian, and Czech composers will be performed—some of which may even inspire the audience to forget themselves and start dancing.

Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, a rarely performed choral piece in Hungary, will also be heard. In England, however, it is a Christmas staple.

The program will create an inspired festive atmosphere for the holiday season, and naturally, the traditional joint singing of a well-known Christmas carol, arranged for orchestra, will not be left out.

About the performers:

Conductor Gergely Ménesi played violin in the Symphonic Orchestra of St. Stephen’s Secondary School between 1983 and 1986. For a long period, he was chief conductor of the school’s Jubilee Symphony Orchestra. He won 2nd prize at the 9th János Ferencsik International Conducting Competition. He is Professor of Conducting Technique at the Department of Conducting and Choral Conducting at the Liszt Academy of Music, conductor of the Academy’s Symphony Orchestra, habilitated associate professor, and conductor of the St. Stephen Philharmonic and the University Orchestra of Győr. Since 1998, he has been permanent guest conductor of the Košice Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also appeared as guest conductor in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Slovakia, and Transylvania.

Singer Zita Patak has a very wide repertoire. She regularly performs with György Vashegyi’s ensembles, mainly presenting early music, and is a member of the Hungarian Radio Choir. As a soloist, she has premiered several works. A versatile artist, she has appeared as a soloist in New York, Edinburgh, and Berlin, and has worked with renowned conductors and orchestras (Zoltán Kocsis – Hungarian National Philharmonic, Iván Fischer – Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ádám Medveczky – St. Stephen Philharmonic, István Dénes – Hungarian State Opera Orchestra).

The Lorem Ipsum Quartet, founded in autumn 2020, is dedicated to performing the vocal literature of classical music with four distinctive voices—whether the intimate church music of Tallis or the sweeping mixed choirs of Kodály. The ensemble of Júlia Balázs, Zita Patak, Tamás Ress, and Gergő Hahn has covered diverse eras of music history over the past four years: from early Baroque polyphony, through German and Russian Romanticism, to 20th- and 21st-century Hungarian choral music. Their repertoire has been presented not only in several major Hungarian cities but also to audiences in Vienna and London.