The Kostyák family, which has given many musicians to the world, gives concerts together in Gyergyó.
The grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren of Bálint Ákos, a cantor born 131 years ago who served at Gyergyószentmiklós, will gather together to play music in the city's Armenian Catholic church: members of the Kostyák family, which gave Transylvania and the world many musicians, eight adults and eight young people will play together. We talked about the special performance with composer Imre Kostyák, a violinist living in Switzerland, as well as with the young members of the large family - four children.
Those interested are invited to a special concert on Sunday, June 2, at the Armenian Catholic church in Gyergyószentmiklós, where a memorial concert will be held on the occasion of the birthday of cantor Ákos Bálint, who was born 131 years ago - his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren from Transylvania, Hungary, and Switzerland will perform at the event.
The members of the Kostyák family, which has given many musical talents to Transylvania and the world, will play music together, which, although not an unprecedented event, is nevertheless considered special. About the significance of the performance, we asked the creator of the concert, the composer Imre Kostyák, born in Cluj-Napoca, living and working in Switzerland, accordionist, retired teacher of the Basel Academy of Music, Ákos Bálint's grandson, as well as some of the great-grandchildren. Imre Kostyák said that this is not the first time they organize a family concert.
By the way, as I watch the talented Kostyák musicians supply, I think that countless similar joint actions can still take place. The idea of a family concert was already nurtured by my grandfather. In the issue of Magyar Lapok published on May 21, 1939, we read that Ákos Bálint and his son Barnabás sometimes performed together at concerts in Györgyo, and it even often happened that the Bálint brothers jointly organized their highly successful cultural events.
The Kostyák family has held a musical memorial several times in honor of our grandfather," said the cellist. He explained that it was more difficult for him to cross from Switzerland to Gyorgyó, on the other hand, his younger brothers - Attila, Alpár, Előd and their families - appeared more often at the events of the Armenian church. He also said that at the performance in Györgyó, eight adults and eight young people will perform in different ensembles, including a clarinetist, violinist, horn player, organist and pianist.
"I took it upon myself to put together the short hour-long, non-stop program, orchestrate the pieces, and edit the poster and program booklet. Quote Everyone said what they wanted to play, and then I rewrote the rest according to the possibilities for smaller or larger ensembles. With the classical works played at the beginning of the show, we pay tribute to the memory of my grandfather, so to speak, but I dedicated the last two works to the younger generation."
- explained Imre Kostyák. He added that the last funny, guitar-like, strummed piece will unite the family in a big joint "tutti", and the celebration will continue with a standing room reception in the building of the Armenian Association.
"Here, the eulogy of writer Bori Kostyák, a talented publicist, about her great-grandfather will be read, the Bálint-Kostyák family tree compiled by Zsófi's great-grandfather will be shown, and we will have a pleasant conversation with those present, our friends and acquaintances. By the way, even in the countryside, it is increasingly rare for several generations of the family to live in one yard, following the old tradition - this also applied to the late great Bálint family. Only my grandparents lived in Gyergyo, some of their children stayed in Székelyföld, the others moved to other towns in Transylvania or to Hungary. Despite this, if they could, they continued to celebrate family anniversaries together, and we tried to pass this good habit on to our children," said Imre Kostyák.
In response to our question, he said that the memorial concert of their grandfather Ákos Bálint is one of many opportunities to inspire the many musicians in the family to perform together. However, the cohesive force that holds the family together is not tied to profession, but applies beyond that, as we have seen that it is passed down from generation to generation.
"Even if we are sometimes separated by thousands of kilometers, we keep up to date with each other's joys and troubles via the Internet, our mutual correspondence page, or WhatsApp, we celebrate our special days and nurture our diverse family relationships"
- explained Imre Kostyák.
We asked the young members of the family, some of the great-grandchildren, about what the family playing music together, the joint concert, means to them: Judith Csengeri, third-grader living in Cluj, Tekla Szabó, sixth-grader, her eldest great-grandson, Tamás Szabó, who plays the clarinet, eighth-grader, and sixth-grader Zsófit Peden, who lives in Budapest.
Tamás said that when he plays music with his family, it feels very natural and simple to make music together.
"I think this is because I have known my family members for a very long time, and it is easier for me to communicate with them than if I had to play with, say, a school teacher"
said the eighth grade boy. His sister, Tekla, answered our question that it is very good for her that her family is so special.
"From my older family members onward, every single person plays an instrument. Performing together with family members is different in that I know them better, we have played together before, so the instrument also sounds different."
said Tekla playing the violin. Judit Csengeri's mother, Zsuzsa Kostyák Csengeri, was an organist and music teacher, her grandfather was Alpár Kostyák (1957 – 2016 – music teacher, folk musician, television journalist, iconic personality of the Transylvanian dance hall movement), her great-grandmother was Erzsébet Bálint, and her great-grandfather was Ákos Bálint.
Judit Csengeri told us that family music is good because it brings together the big family, it's like a family meeting, and that the music sounds much better when several members of the family play than when she is alone with a piano accompaniment. Zsófi Peden is also the great-grandson of Ákos Bálint, his mother was Ildikó Kostyák, his father was Attila Kostyák, his mother was Zsóka Bálint, and his father was Ákos Bálint. Zsófi Peden answered our question that he is also happy about the family performance because he is very interested in family tree research, and therefore it is a great honor for him to be able to play the violin in memory of his great-grandfather. When asked how performing together with family members is different from playing music anywhere else, Zsófi said that it is different
they "feel" the music together with the family members, they don't just play the beats one after the other.
