"Argenteus" Mixed Choir of Szeged University Faculty of Music Education

The mixed choir “Argenteus” of the Szeged University Department of Music Education was founded in 1963 and has performed under the leadership of Dr. Gábor Kovács since 1998. The members are the students of the Department of Music Education, but other participants (graduates and students from other faculties of the University) are also welcome. Besides their regular concerts in Hungary, they also take part in festivals and many concerts in Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Finland and Serbia. Several Hungarian composers dedicated their works to Argenteus and its director.

The choir bears the title “Concert Choir”, the highest qualification of the Hungarian Council of Choirs.

Gábor Kovács gratuated at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music as choir conductor in 1990. He continued his studies in London at the Guildhall School of Music and obtained his PhD at the Queen’s University in Belfast (Northern Ireland). He is an associate professor of Szeged University and teacher of Choral Conducting and History of Music at the Department of Music Education. Besides Argenteus, he is the leader of the international award winning vocal ensemble “... Canticum Novum,” which performs both early and contemporary music, premieres pieces by Hungarian composers, and has had many pieces dedicated to him and his choirs.

Szeged, some say, is “the finest mirage of the Hungarian Great Plain”. Szeged the city means something different to each person. Be that as it may, it is more than the sum of the things it is known for: pretty Szeged slippers, fiery paprika, pungent halászlé (fishermen’s soup) and inimitable salami. Szeged today is one of the country’s centers of learning. Its research institututions and creative spirits have spread its fame far beyond the country’s borders. It is an industrial and agricultural centre, a major artery in the country’s financial bloodstream. It is a cultural centre too, attracting of many great artists and performers.