Welcome

Cantemus was formed in 1975 as a primary school choir and continues to be the school choir of the Zoltan Kodaly primary school in Nyiregyhaza in Hungary. Like other school choirs the eldest members leave and new members join every year as part of the normal progression of the state school education system. While the school specialises in music due to its name it does this within the normal curriculum and the choir members have to learn and rehearse their music in addition to normal lessons.

 Cantemus has however become a special choir because the standards and successes  it has achieved have given it a national and international reputation. They have also led to the creation of two other choirs which have established their own international success and reputations. The first of these  - Pro Musica  - was formed for older girls who had left the primary school choir and it began its individual career by wining the GRAND PRIX of the Bartók Béla International Choir Competition in Debrecen in 1986. More recently the Cantemus Mixed Choir has been established for both male and female voices under the direction of Szabo Soma and this has also achieved major success at international level. The vocal sextet Banchieri has also been formed from choir members and again has travelled extensively, competed successfully at international level and recorded many CDs.  Links to the web sites of these other groups are provided on the front page of this site.

Cantemus has been the foundation for all of these groups which have built on the achievements of the thirty years for which Cantemus has been in existence. The choir is as fresh and alive today as it ever has been and the best way to see this is at a formal concert, competition or even impromptu street entertainment when travelling abroad. We look forward to that meeting.

Denes Szabo