BAROKK EVENING

July 18, Friday, 2025, 7:00 PM-9:00 PM

Performers: Zsombor Tóth-Vajna, harpsichordist, and Audrey Gábor, soprano.

The concert features excerpts from the Harmonia Sacra collection, attributed to Henry Purcell and John Blow, offering a glimpse into the everyday musical life of 17th-century Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal.

Through Zsombor Tóth-Vajna’s musicological commentary, the audience at the Csigó Mill will also gain insight into the flourishing cultural life during the English Restoration.

Musical host: János Mácsai, music historian.

Salon program: meet-the-artists, informal conversation accompanied by wine tasting.

Tickets: 4,500 HUF.

Booking Tickets

Zsombor Tóth-Vajna conductor and specialist in historical keyboard instruments, is one of the outstanding figures of the young generation of Hungarian musicians. He earned his degrees in harpsichord and organ with distinction at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, studying under Miklós Spányi and Borbála Dobozy, then pursued postgraduate studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he trained in organ, harpsichord, fortepiano, and clavichord under Menno van Delft, Richard Egarr, and Jacques van Oortmerssen. He further developed his conducting skills with Richard Egarr, Ton Koopman, and Howard Williams.

In addition to his musical studies, he also pursued medical training at the Semmelweis University Faculty of Medicine in Budapest.

As a soloist and chamber musician, he is a frequent guest in concert halls across Europe and the United States. Notable appearances include a solo recital at Westminster Abbey in London—where he was the first Hungarian to perform in that capacity—St. Paul’s Cathedral, and St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. He is a recurring guest at the Halle Handel Festival and London’s Handel House Museum.

A passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with artists such as Erika Miklósa, Eszter Sümegi, Gábor Bretz, István Várdai, András Keller, and Avi Avital. He has recorded for Hungarian Radio and Television, including educational programming with András Batta, promoting early keyboard music.

He is the founder and artistic director of the Harmonia Caelestis Baroque Orchestra, established in 2015, and is devoted to four-hand keyboard repertoire, performing with his twin brother, Gergely, as Duo Piano e Forte.

He has refined his keyboard artistry at masterclasses with Pierre Hantaï, Skip Sempé, Ton Koopman, Masaaki Suzuki, Malcolm Bilson, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Christine Schornsheim, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Jon Laukvik, Andreas Staier, and Hans Fagius, and honed his conducting at masterclasses led by Riccardo Muti and Sir Roger Norrington.

As an educator, he has given masterclasses both in Hungary and internationally, and served on juries of international competitions. Since 2020, he has been a doctoral fellow at the Royal College of Music in London, researching 17th-century English keyboard performance practice.

Tóth-Vajna has released nine solo albums to date, several under the Hungaroton label. Among his accolades are the Kerpel Award (Semmelweis University, 2013), inclusion in La Femme magazine’s “Top 50 Most Talented Young Hungarians” (2015), and the Bach Festival Award (2019).

Audrey Gábor Australian-Hungarian soprano, was born in Sydney, where she completed a double degree in Classical Voice and Theatre Studies before earning her Master’s degree in Opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She made her operatic debut as Mercédès in Bizet’s Carmen at the Sydney Opera House. Her notable roles include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), Amore (Orfeo ed Euridice), Beth (Little Women by Adamo), Juno (Orpheus in the Underworld), La Paix (Tancrède by Campra), and Ernestine Hill (Daisy Bates at Ooldea by Boyd).

After relocating to Hungary, she made her debut at the Hungarian State Opera during the 2016–17 season in Samu Gryllus’s vocal theatre piece Two Women (Két nő). This performance was featured on a commemorative recording released by OperaTrezor for the 200th anniversary of the Hungarian State Opera. In the same season, she sang Mimì (La Bohème) and Berta (Il barbiere di Siviglia) with the Művész Symphony Orchestra.

Until the 2019–2020 season, Audrey regularly performed as a soloist in the Opera House’s tourism programme. As a freelancer, she has worked with numerous ensembles, including the Szolnok Symphony Orchestra, Alba Regia Symphony Orchestra, and Művész Symphony Orchestra.

She continues to expand her operatic repertoire with roles such as Micaëla and Frasquita (Carmen), Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Despina (Così fan tutte), Serpina (La serva padrona), and Gilda (Rigoletto). In the 2022–2023 season, as a guest artist of the Andrea Rost Foundation, she portrayed the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Liszt Academy’s Solti Hall and at VeszprémFest.

Audrey received critical acclaim for her performance as Solveig in the Győr Ballet’s production of Peer Gynt. She is a founding member of the Trio Laudor with tenor László Kéringer and guitarist/soprano Orsika Pataki-Tóth.

Her concert repertoire includes major works by J. S. Bach, such as the Mass in B minor and Coffee Cantata. She also sings Duemila in Katalin Szalai’s contemporary opera Interludi, and has performed solo parts in works by Esterházy, Kuhnau, Péter Wolf, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier.

She is currently preparing for several concerts with esteemed chamber partners, and one of the highlights will be her return to the Csigó Art Fest, performing alongside Zsombor Tóth-Vajna.