The Pannon Philharmonic is again getting ready for the Gala Concert on the Feast Day of Pécs with works by Hungarian composers. First, we can hear a dance from a nearly forgotten piece by Zoltán Kodály, Czinka Panna. Following that, we can accompany the ever-urban Leo Weiner on his adventures in the Museum of Ethnography, which he visited to listen to some genuine Hungarian folk music recordings, and inspired by these, he too could write an authentic Hungarian orchestral composition. This is the story behind his Hungarian Folk Dances Suite, based on genuine folk tunes but from a Western and urban perspective. Finally, we can witness the world premiere of a composition setting Sándor Weöres’ text to music written by János Vajda and commissioned by the University of Pécs. The music will be of great help in the interpretation of the profound and enigmatic text.

Pécs University Orchestra

The orchestra of the University of Pécs is the professional workshop of young instrumentalists studying at the Institute of Music at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs. The high standard of the concerts given by the orchestra is ensured by the campus of the Faculty of Arts located in the Zsolnay Cultural District, as well as by the excellent work of the instrumental tutors teaching there, who are also members of the country's leading orchestras and regular concert performers themselves. The ensemble's programmes encompass symphonic works of various musical styles. The orchestra has given several concerts in Baja, Kaposvár, Paks, the Vigadó in Budapest, the Basilica of Pécs, the new Franz Liszt Concert Hall in Germany and Croatia. They are returning performers of the university concerts held at the Kodály Centre and at the end-of-year opera productions of the university's voice students held in cooperation with PFZ. Since 2010, the Symphony Orchestra has been working under the direction of the Meritorious and Outstanding Artist and Liszt Prize-winning conductor Balázs Kocsár.

Pécs University Choir

The Pécs University Choir was founded in 1997. Its predecessor, the Mixed Choir of Pécs Teacher Training College, led by Aurél Tillai, garnered great success in numerous international choral competitions, including Arezzo, Debrecen, Gorizia, Neerpelt and BBC's choral competition 'Let the Peoples Sing'. From 2000, the ensemble, led by new conductors (István Várdai, Valér Jobbágy, Salamon Kamp), primarily built up an oratorical repertoire. Since 2014, the choir has been led by Prof. Dr Tamás Lakner, the two-time Artisjus and Liszt Prize-winning conductor and professor at the University of Pécs, who has won 63 prizes at various international choral competitions with his choirs. Under his leadership, – among other pieces– new contemporary Hungarian works have been incorporated into the choir's repertoire, and the ensemble has often toured abroad, most recently in the United States in 2022 and at the Istora Festival in Croatia in 2023.

Pécs University Women's Choir

The Pécs University Women's Choir can boast a decades-long history. Its conductors were Pál Dobák, István Várdai, Valér Jobbágy, Judit Magay and Attila Kertész, and since 2020, it has been led by Tibor Hoffner and Laura Antal. The members of the choir are Hungarian and international students majoring in piano, guitar, voice, musical science and school music teaching. The choir formed part of the university mixed choir for a few years, during which it cooperated in several oratorical works and opera productions. The leaders of the ensemble are committed to the cultivation of local cultural values, and in the repertoire, they prioritise the works of Pécs-based and other Hungarian contemporary composers. In October 2022, the choir earned a silver certificate and a special prize for the performance of Sándor Balatoni's composition based on the popular folk song Szivárvány havasán (On the Heights of the Rainbow) at the VoceMagna International Choir Competition held in Zsolna (Žilina).