Babel is often associated with chaos: It can refer to the diversity of languages that makes communication awkward, but it can just as well reflect the kind of diversity that produces an ordered mosaic of colour. The Müpa Budapest Babel Evening series riffs on this second meaning in bringing various disciplines of the arts and musical genres together under one roof.
The title of the concert, The Flood, also has many meanings. Floodwaters can be both fertile and destructive, a flood of emotion can sweep away and overwhelm all before it, it can be a gentle embrace or it can drown us.
One of the musical motors of the concert is Szabolcs Szőke, who is into his seventies but continues to work with young musicians and makes no secret of the fact that he is seeking fresh inspiration from the new generation. The formation he leads, Trio Squelini, attracted attention with its fascinating message about the world delivered in its 2014 release entitled Campiello. Ethnic (primarily Balkan, African and eastern) sounds, elements of contemporary music and classical forms are equally typical of their diverse musical output. Szabolcs Szőke has on several occasions performed duo concerts with the exceptionally talented young cellist Ditta Rohmann, and Trio Squelini, which plays ethno-jazz and contemporary chamber music, has now developed an even closer working relationship with the artist.
Trio Squelini & Ditta Rohmann will be joined by a 'classically' Babel-like company that unifies a number of artistic disciplines. Akkezdet Phiai comprise two poet-musicians in Péter Závada (primarily a poet and literary translator) and Márk Süveg. Their ars poetica is for music to 'serve language' through musical sounds and rhythms, by placing the emphasis on rap and slam poetry. Concerts by their collaborators Amoeba are typified by elements of improvisational jazz, funk and hip-hop, so they are well equipped to adapt to the demands of the rap duo to make themselves subservient to the lyrical performance.
In addition to playing on their own, the bands have also prepared a joint number solely for this concert.
The diversity of Babel cannot be celebrated without embracing the visual, which will be represented by the Brussels-based contemporary dancer Zsuzsa Rózsavölgyi. One of the main messages of the Babel series is to present the arts as one. This is also one of the key elements of self-expression as far as the young dancer and choreographer is concerned.


Presented by: Müpa Budapest