The Liszt Academy of Music has been awarded the European Heritage Label
On 13 April, the Liszt Academy of Music, as one of nine selected sites, was awarded the European Heritage Label, presented by Tibor Navracsics, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport in Brussels. The Academy was recognised for its outstanding role played in the European music scene, for its preservation of European traditions, its creativity and double identity.
The award was received by Gyula Fekete, Vice President of International and Scientific Affairs at the award ceremony held within the framework of the European Heritage Label Days taking place in Brussels between 12 and 15 April, 2016. The twenty-nine designated European Heritage Label sites presented themselves in roundtable discussions and plenary sessions. The Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria, the Historic Ensemble of the University of Tartu in Estonia, Mundaneum in Mons, Belgium, or the European District of Strasbourg in France were also among the nine newly selected awardees.
The representatives of the awarded sites in 2016 (Photo: Creative Europe)
Among the designated heritage sites, the Liszt Academy has been the first institution to focus on music, thus it received special attention throughout the event series. As Gyula Fekete pointed out: „the award is a great honour. The Academy was recognised, as the cosmopolitan Ferenc Liszt represented a strong European identity, as Kodály’s approach to music education also shapes the students’ entire personality or as Bartók had a great European presence as well. The building of the Liszt Academy and its culture-historical significance also contributed to the international recognition. The award is meant to encourage the selected sites to cooperate and bring their values closer to the people of today’s Europe.” At the award ceremony, a short image film on the 140-year long traditions, the Liszt-heritage and the diverse activities of the Academy was streamed. Besides the music events held in the main building (concert centre), also the concerts taking in place in the Ligeti Building in Wesselényi Street, at the Kodály Museum and at the Old Academy of Music were featured in the film.
The Creative Europe programme of the European Commission assessed the work of the Liszt Academy as the following: An educational institution, an international university of musical arts and a concert centre, the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music brings European music heritage to the fore. Since its creation in 1875, the Academy held true to its spirit of openness, creativity and innovation and its European and international character. This is why it has recently been designated as European Heritage Label.”
