Erika Náray and special guest: Ágnes Herczku / JAZZ FANS

Erika Náray and special guest: Ágnes Herczku

It will come as no surprise to the audience that jazz holds an important place in Ágnes Herczku's soul. In addition to her passion for the authentic folk music of the peoples living in the Carpathian Basin, who are closely related to us Hungarians, she was also attracted as a singer and collector to genres capable of creating a valid connection with folk music from the very beginning. She has worked with Mihály Borbély, Mihály Dresch, Herbie Mann, Gábor Juhász, Tibor Bornai and DJ Palotai. The result was always of an outstanding standard.

This quality has been recognised with eMeRTon Awards, the Fonogram Prize, the Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók Memorial Prizes, the Hungarian Art Prize, the Value Prize and the Liszt Ferenc Prize, among others. Her open-minded attitude may be due to the fact that she became an artist 'from civilian ranks'. She first appeared on stage as a dancer, then became a member of the Honvéd Ensemble's dance group, and at the same time, she began her career as a singer. It was also thanks to her openness to multiple values, and of course her wonderful singing voice and impressive stage presence, that she soon became a leading figure on the Hungarian folk and world music scene. She was a member of the Fonó Folk Band for eight years and a soloist with the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble from 2002, as well as working with Szalonna (István Pál) and his band - and of course with Nikola Parov, with whom she has been together as a partner since 1999 and who has been the driving force behind Herczku Ági & Band for almost ten years. She is certain to be happy to tell the stories of her success at WOMEX, her experiences with contemporary music, the relationship between music and poetry - and, of course, her favourite jazz music.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest