Instead of regular teaching, students of the Institute listened to different lectures and workshops during the special week. From left to right: Elisabeth Moll - former teacher of Pennsylvania University - gave a lecture on Zoltán Kodály's former student Katalin Forrai's influential pedagogical work; Károly Binder- pianist, composer, and teacher of jazz piano and jazz composition, and head of faculty at the Liszt Academy - lectured on jazz improvization and gave a concert; Mónika Benedek - teacher of the Kodolányi János University of Applied Sciences - gave a lecture on solfege regarding classical and jazz music; Sergio de la Ossa - MA student at the Institute - taught Galician dances to the students and faculty.

The first Mini Study Tour in cooperation with the BKA was initiated by the late Prof Éva Vendrei, deputy director-general of the Insitute, seven years ago.
It has been the 7th occasion that the study tour for the members of the British Kodály Academy was held on 15-17 February. The programme was made up of daily musicianship classes, a lecture on Kodály's philosophy, methodology classes, and observation classes.

The leaders of Keimyung University (Daegu, Korea) spent a day at the Institute on 21 February observing a demonstration class and discussing possible routes of future co-operation with the Liszt Academy and the Institute.

The one-week study programme for the students and teachers of the Monash University (Australia) was made up of musicianship classes, a lecture on Kodály's philosophy, methodology classes, and observation classes.

In 2009 the Board of Trustees of the Kodály Institute decided to give the "On Behalf of the Kodály Institute" Award to Ildikó Csányi-Koós, head of the Institute Library, and Mrs Mária Horváth, staff member of the Institute's Archives.
According to the Rules of the Board of Trustees, this award can be given to people who have done outstanding work for the Institute or to institutions that have regularly or occasionally helped the Institute to achieve its goals.
The official ceremony was held on December 12, in the concert hall of the Kodály Institute when the students of the Institute gave the semester-closing Christmas concert.

The Young Musicians' Society (Singapore) organized the course in collaboration with the Kodály Institute between 16 and 27 November. The course was primarily offered for music pedagogues and choral conductors. The aim of the course was to give the participants an enhanced knowledge of the compositions and educational philosophy of Zoltán Kodály, and the knowledge of application of the Kodály Concept of Music Education - musicianship, vocal and choral training - from primary to advanced levels.

On September 18 the 2009-2010 Academic Year officially began. After Director László Norber Nemes's speech at the Opening Ceremony, the students took the traditional oath to become official members of the Institute community.

With the traditional end-of-semester student recitals and student concert on May 23 and the Closing Ceremony on May 29 when students received their diplomas, the 2008-2009 Academic Year officially ended. See the moments of these events below!

Dr. Klára Kokas is one of the most inspiring Hungarian music pedagogues who, with her talent and knowledge, has called the attention of generations of music teachers to the importance of the Kodály concept at home and worldwide. She is one of those few who knew Kodály and worked with him. She was one of the first pedagogues to realize that music education based on the Kodály concept has a positive impact on developing children's learning abilities in non-musical fields as well. She extended her experiences of the transfer effects of music education to dealing with children with disabilities.

The audience of the book presentation was welcome by Dr László Norbert Nemes, director of the Kodály Institute and Dr Mihály Ittzés, co-president of the Hungarian Kodály Society, professor of the Institute. A small concert given by students of the Kecskemét Kodály School and teachers of the Kecskemét M. Bodon Pál Music School made the programme complete.
The new enlarged edition of the three-volume Visszatekintés in Hungarian containing Zoltán Kodály's writings and speeches was presented by József Láng, director of Argumentum Publishing. The first and 1989 publications of the volumes can very rarely be found, even in second hand bookshops nowadays.
The schools and public institutions of Kecskemét were given gift copies of the book by the Kodály Heritage Programme and support of the town of Kecskemét.

The first students of the Kodály Institute to hold an MA in Kodály Music Pedagogy - waiting for the results in the library - Róisín Blunnie (Ireland), Miok Jeong (Korea), Yutao Song (China), Akiko Ikeda (Japan), Fumie Ito (Japan), and Carlos Basto (Columbia) - and together with their Institute supervisors and examiners. On 12 June, at the final examination, they all successfully finished the course that was held for the first time in the 2008-2009 academic year.

With the traditional end-of-semester student recitals and student concert on May 17 and the Closing Ceremony on May 31 when students received their diplomas, the 2007-2008 Academic Year officially ended. See the moments of these events below!

The first Mini Study Tour in cooperation with the BKA was initiated by the late Prof Éva Vendrei, deputy director-general of the Insitute, five years ago.
It has been the 5th occasion that the study tour for the members of the British Kodály Academy was held between February 18 and 20. The programme was made up of daily musicianship classes, a lecture on Kodály's philosophy, methodology classes, and daily observation classes in the Kodály Music Primary School.
Works by Zoltán Kodály and Ferenc Farkas were performed at the mini concert given by the professors of the Institute.

Led by Christine Jordanoff, director of choral organizations in the School of Music, Voices of Spirit is the most selective of the Music School's choral groups. The students performed at historic churches, including Budapest's St. Mathias Church, St. Nicholas Cathedral in Prague and Karlskirche in Vienna, and the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét.

Concerts during the Voices of Spirit tour featured a repertoire ranging from Renaissance motets to American spirituals, a cappella in various languages, including Latin, French, German, Hungarian, Church Slavonic and English.
Jordanoff, who spent a year studying in Hungary after receiving her master's degree, took the group to the birthplace of Zoltán Kodály, Kecskemét.

In addition to performing there, they visited the Kodály school for teaching demonstrations. At the Kodály Pedagogical Institute, where a number of Duquesne alumni have studied, they took part in a master class with the institute's director, Peter Erdei, Jordanoff's former teacher.

During the orientation week the students got acquainted not only with Hungary's history, culture but also with each other.

In Ópusztaszer National Memorial Park trying archery	Visiting the Paprika Museum in Kalocsa	At the Cathedral of Kalocsa there was a chance to try playing on the organ	Last day of the orientation week - Who was tired?

Each year on April 26, governments and organizations around the world join WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations - in celebrating World Intellectual Property Day.
The Millenium Award is an award founded by the Hungarian Patent Office in the year of Millennium, which is won by the institutions playing a significant role in the protection of intellectual property. The award is delivered on the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Day.

One of the award winners in 2007 was the Kodály Institute, Kecskemét.

The Award was handed over on 26 April, 2007 in the historical building of the Műcsarnok in Budapest. Besides others, Vizi E. Szilveszter, president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences gave a speech, and the evening was highlighted by performances of the Haydn Barytontrio and the Trio Lignum.

Besides the concerts he gave in Hungary, the world-famous piano pedagogue, Dmitry Bashkirov gave a masterclass at the Kodály Institute for present and former students of the Kecskemét Kodály School and for piano students of the Kodály Institute.

The competition was co-organized by the Music Education and Choral Conducting Department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Europa Cantat, AGEC and KÓTA (Association of Hungarian Choirs and Orchestras). The 17 competitors were from 12 different countries:

The competition was opened by Dr András Batta, rector of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. The following choirs participated in the competition:Round 1 Morning Session: Angelica Girls' Choir - choir director: Zsuzsanna GRÁF
Round 1 Afternoon Session: Monteverdi Choir - choir director: Éva KOLLÁR
Round 2 Morning Session: Mixed Choir of the Liszt Academy - choir director: Péter ERDEI
Round 2 Afternoon Session: Cantate Mixed Choir - choir director: Ferenc SAPSZON Jr.
Round 3: Hungarian Radio's Choir - choir director: Kálmán STRAUSZ and the Mixed Choir of the Liszt Academy

Acknowledgements to the participating choirs and their leaders for their high standard contribution to the competition.

There were approximately 30 pieces at the competition, 2/3 of which were Kodály's choral pieces for equal and mixed voices. In addition, there were Renaissance and Early Baroque pieces in Round 1, Romantic pieces in Round 2, and 20th-century pieces in Round 3.

The international jury was headed by Éva ROZGONYI, and the members were: Éva KOLLÁR, János CZIFRA (Austria), Stojan KURET, (Slovenia), Peter BROADBENT, (England), Claudio CHIAVAZZA, (Italy) and Jos VRANKEN (Holland).

After Round 2, the following competitors made it to the finals: Maike BŰHLE (Germany)
Mirga GRAZINYTE (Lithuania)
Florian HELGATH (Germany)
Marcis IMANTS (Latvia)
PAD Zoltán (Hungary)
Viacheslav ZAHAROV (Russia)We are very glad that a Hungarian participant made it to the finals as well.The results of the competition:1st Prize (awarded by the Rezső Lantos Foundation) - Mirga GRAZINYTE
2nd Prize (awarded by the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music) - Viacheslav ZAHAROV
3rd Prize (awarded by the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music) - Marcis IMANTS
Audience Prize (awarded by the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music) - Zoltán PAD
Special Prize for the best performance of a Kodály piece (awarded by the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music) - Viacheslav ZAHAROV
Scholarship for participation at 2007-2008 European conductors' courses (awareded by Europa Cantat, Noël Minet Fund) - Anna SZABÓ (Rumania)
Invitation to hold or co-organize a workshop at the Europa Cantat XVIIth Festival, Utrecht 2009 (awarded by Europa Cantat) - Florian HELGATH
Invitation to hold a workshop at the 2008 Hungarian Conductors' Conference (awarded by KÓTA) Árpád TÓTH
Special Prize for the most successful Hungarian competitor (awarded by the Pál Kardos Foundation) - Zoltán PAD
Special Prize for the youngest competitor who got to the finals (awarded by AGEC- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Europäischer Chorverbände) - Marcis IMANTS
Special Prize for a packet of Hungarian scores (awarded by Editio Musica Budapest) - Maike BŰHLE
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THEM! The competition was supported by the following organizations as well: Ministry of Education and Culture
National Cultural Fund
Foundation for the Kecskemét Kodály Institute
Culture 2000 programme of the European Union We acknowledge these organizations for their financial support and the colleagues who helped to make the competition run smoothly.

The 3-day "Mini Study Tour" was organized for the members of the British Kodály Academy. The study programme was made up of class observations, daily musicianship classes, methodology, lectures on different topics, and a mini concert.

A 5-day short course at the Kodály Institute, Kecskemét, with class observations in primary schools;
30 contact hours altogether. Course is now over.

During the orientation week the students got acquainted not only with Hungary's history, culture but also with each other.

In the garden of the Eszterházy Castle in Fertőd	Drinking coffee from precious Herend porcelain	At Lake Balaton in Tihany	Tired in Kalocsa?

The Foundation for the Kodály Institute, at its meeting in March 2006, granted the Mrs Sarolta Kodály Scholarship, a full tuition scholarship fee offered by Mrs Sarolta Kodály, to Sarah Robinson (Great Britain), and the Éva Vendrei Memorial Scholarship, a half tuition scholarship fee provided by the Foundation, to Róisín Blunnie (Ireland) for full-time study at the Kodály Institute, Kecskemét. Congratulations!

On March 20, Avner Itai, guest conductor from Israel, hold a lecture about Israeli Choral Music. He also conducted the Ars Nova Vocal Ensemble at the Kecskemét Spring Festival.

The 3-day "Mini Study Tour" was organized for the members of the British Kodály Academy. The study programme was made up of class observations, daily musicianship classes, methodology, lectures on different topics, and a mini concert.

Mr. Robert Hage, Canadian Ambassador to Hungary and his wife with Peter Erdei, director and Laura Keri, acting deputy director of the Institute, and with Canadian students of the Institute at present, Jorgianne Talbot and Christopher David Saint.

With the traditional end-of-semester student concert on May 25 and the Closing Ceremony on May 31, the 2004-2005 academic year officially ended. See the moments of these events below!

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