Budafok Dohnanyi Orchestra
The Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra (BDO) is Hungary’s most dynamic and versatile symphony orchestra. It is supported by the Municipality of Budafok-Tétény (22nd District of Budapest). It was turned into a professional orchestra in 1993, to gain recognition on the Hungarian and international music scene and become one of the top classical music ensembles in a short time under the baton of Liszt Award winning conductor, Artist of Merit, Maestro Gábor Hollerung.
BDO has been able to perform with many of the greatest Hungarian and internationally acclaimed artists, including Shlomo Mintz, Elena Bashkirova, Jaakko Ryhänen, Erika Miklósa, Andrea Rost, René Barbera, Pietro Spagnoli, Bruno de Simone, José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Rivka Golani, Roberto Paternostro, Jörg Peter Weigle, Michael Stern, Tatjana Vassilieva, Zoltán Kocsis, Jenő Jandó, Dezső Ránki, Gergely Bogányi, János Balázs, Paul Huang, Tamás Pálfalvi, Kristóf Baráti and Barnabás Kelemen.
In January 2018 the internationally renowned Austro-Italian conductor, Guido Mancusi took the position of Principal Guest Conductor at BDO, and Levente Gyöngyösi, one of the most outstanding Hungarian contemporary composers, was contracted as Resident Composer of the orchestra.
Year after year, BDO proudly presents two concert series at the Liszt Academy of Music and one at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in MÜPA Budapest.
The latter has been running for six years now as a co-production between BDO and MÜPA. The highly popular four-part series called „Music+” goes far beyond the frames of a regular concert, combining music with various branches of performing and visual arts.
Thus, beside the traditional symphonic and oratorio repertoire, BDO’s creative team has staged a great number of productions with some of the most outstanding Hungarian choreographers and dance ensembles (Szeged Contemporary Ballet, Yvette Bozsik Company, Feledi Project, Forte Danse, Coincidance, Central Europe Dance Theatre etc.).
Every season BDO presents a scenic production (Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana, Bizet: Carmen, Verdi: Don Carlos, Orff: Carmina Burana, Kodály: The Spinning Room, Honegger: Jean d’Arc, Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust, Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld, Rossini: The Barber of Sevilla, Beethoven: Fidelio). The staged performance of Bach’s St John’s Passion was a remarkable success in 2016.
In 2009 BDO launched its unique movie soundtrack concert, which today is the best-selling and most sought after symphonic project in Hungary.
BDO is a regular performer of top music and art festivals (Budapest Spring Festival, Café Budapest Contemporary Art Festival, Jewish Cultural Festival, Bartók + Opera Festival Miskolc, BudaFest, Beethoven Festival, Sion-Valais Festival etc.). BDO is also the resident orchestra of the Zemplen Festival, one of the most significant art festivals in Hungary.
BDO is actively present on the international concert stage, too: it has played in almost every European country in such reputed concert venues as the Frankfurt Alte Oper, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Vienna Concert Hall, the Bremen Glocke, Palau de Música in Valencia. BDO has presented grandiose concert shows in 2000, 2004 and 2008 in the exhibition halls of Bremen, Linz and Graz and at the grand television show of the Austrian broadcasting company ORF. Equally worth mentioning are the concerts played at the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Festival, the Beethoven Festival in Berlin and the performance at the concert celebrating German Unity Day in Bonn. BDO’s staged Honegger and Berlioz productions were also invited to Zagreb and Ljubljana.
At Carnegie Hall (NYC), the orchestra made its debut in 2015.
BDO’s versatility is proven by a wide repertoire, which ranges from classical to contemporary, from jazz and pop through world music to movie soundtracks. BDO is also proud to have its very own and much celebrated Big Band.
In 2011 BDO accompanied Sting at two concerts of his Symphonicity Tour while 2017 saw concerts played with José Carreras and Andrea Bocelli. The Budapest concerts of Quincy Jones (2018) and the world-famous vocal group Take 6 (June 2019) were also accompanied by BDO.
