Béla Bartók Chamber Choir Szolnok is a professional female choir of 13 singers founded in 1969 by the Municipality of Szolnok and has been adhering to the highest professional standards. Since 1989 its artistic director and conductor has been Éva Molnár. It is the only professional female choir in Hungary and it plays a significant role not only in the cultural life of Szolnok, but also in that of the county and in Hungary.

The repertoire of the choir focuses on mainly Romantic, 20th century and contemporary compositions. At the concerts both secular and sacred music is well interpreted.

The Choir often welcomes members from other Hungarian professional choirs in order to participate in productions that involve mixed choir repertoire. Therefore the choir fulfills the requirement of performing oratorical compositions too, for instance: Bach: Magnificat, Beethoven: Symphony IX., Dvořák: Stabat Mater, the concert form of Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Dobrogosz: Missa, Kodály: Missa Brevis, and also in numerous famous opera scores. The choir plays an important role also in the productions of the Szigligeti Theatre.

The choir has a strong intention to take part in the education of the youth of city of Szolnok. The concerts, performed especially for the youngsters, are based on the eras of music history or the carefully selected works of certain composers.

The choir successfully toured in Italy, Sicily, Germany, France, Belgium, Israel, Poland, Japan and Russia.

Awards

1999 Cultural Award of Szolnok in Memory of Gyula Kaposvári
2006 Award of Arts of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County
2008 “Silver Pelican” award
2010 “The best competition program” Saint Petersburg -Singing World Choral Competition
2010 “The significant sacred music performance” Saint Petersburg -Singing World Choral Competition
2010 Regional Prima prize – “Category of MUSIC ART”

During the masterclass the Béla Bartók Chamber Choir will welcome members form the Kodály Choir of Debrecen to form a 26-member mixed choir.