Parallel Realities

18:45-19:15 | At the Transparent Sound New Music Festival, the evening concert is traditionally preceded by an introductory discussion. For the program entitled Parallel Realities, composer Samu Gryllus, who is also the festival’s founding curator, will lead a conversation with István Márta, Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson and Kornél Fekete-Kovács on the artistic concept and behind-the-scenes secrets of the performance.

The conversation will be conducted in English and Hungarian.

Admission to the event is included with a valid ticket to the evening’s concert.

In the first part of the evening, the Modern Art Orchestra performs the multi-layered, boundary-crossing works of the world-renowned American composer and trumpeter Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson. The ensemble is led by trumpeter-composer Kornél Fekete-Kovács, and the musical dialogue between the two promises an intensely driven, uninterrupted experience for anyone curious to hear the most exciting voices of contemporary music and jazz meet in a single evening.

After the intermission, the event continues with the Modern Art Orchestra’s composer portrait series, which for years has been dedicated to presenting leading figures of contemporary Hungarian composition. Among the oeuvres associated with the 180 Group, MAO first dedicated full evenings to the music of László Melis and later Tibor Szemző. The next milestone in this intellectual trajectory is the István Márta portrait concert.

The program explores the composer’s multifaceted musical world, highlighting its playfulness, theatricality, inner dramaturgy, and meditative layers. A special feature of the concert is the composer’s personal involvement in the performance: the works will be realized through MAO’s distinctive approach to orchestration, enriched by the composer’s active presence on stage.

Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson studied composition with John Eaton and Iannis Xenakis, at Indiana University, and with Gunther Schuller and Jacob Druckman at the Berkshire Music Centre, Tanglewood. He was awarded the first John W. Work III Composition Fellowship. While living in New York, he worked in then field of creative music Education, with the Lincoln Center institute, Guggenheim Museum and Adelphi University. He has presented music workshops in America and in Europe. 

Recognized for his innovative compositions, Nelson has received numerous grants from major cultural organisations including the National Endowment for the Arts, (USA) Foundation for Contemporary Arts, (NY), Pro Helvetia, (CH) Fonds Voor Skeppende Toon Kunst, (NED). His works have been commissioned and performed by renowned ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Southwest German Radio Orchestra, Ensemble Paul Klee, Broken Frame Syndicate, The Luzern Symphony, and the Luzern Festival. His works have been performed in France Germany, Italy Peru, Korea, Ukraine, Hungary, Denmark, Holland, Estonia, Iceland, and other countries. His work “Jim Is Still Crowing” for solo trumpet and ensemble, has been performed in Frankfurt, Luzern, Luxembourg, Den Haag and Utrecht. This work received its American premiere at Roulette in Brooklyn on Feb. 9, 2024. This work was a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In May 2025, Nelson conducted and played trumpet with the Luzern Symphony in his new work “The New spring”, at the KKL in Luzern. He has received a commission for the 2026 Luzern Festival. His new work “Endangered Dreams”, will received its premiere on August 30th. 2026 in Luzern. His music theatre work, “VOICESBETWEENTHESHADOWSBETWEENTHEVOICES” will receive its premiere in Wien in September 2027. His works are published by composersedition.com Since 1994, Nelson has divided his time between Biel Switzerland and New York.

István Márta is a composer, performance artist, and festival founder, and a defining figure of the Hungarian avant-garde and experimental theatre scene. He earned his artist-teacher degree in composition at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1975, and was an active participant in the artistic renewal of the 1970s and 1980s as a key member of the influential 180 Group, founded in 1979.

He has served as musical director of the Petőfi Theatre in Veszprém, the National Theatre, and the Új Theatre. In 1989, he founded the Kapolcs Arts Days, which evolved in 1996 into the Valley of Arts, now Hungary’s largest multicultural festival. From 2003 to 2021, he was President of the Hungarian Festival Association, and since 2023 has held the title of Honorary President for Life. His artistic practice brings together theatre, folk music, electronic sound, chamber-music refinement, and experimental formal sensitivity.

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With the friendly support of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.