Brass Ensemble
The Ewald Brass Quintet is perhaps the country’s most talented wind ensemble, open to all styles and trends, to lighter and more serious genres; their only criterion is quality.
The Ensemble was founded in 1996 by former students of Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest). The members of the ensemble are Levente Bakó, Tamás Tarkó, Lóránd Sonkovics, Péter Magyar and Attila Peresztegi. They are also acknowledged as soloists and awarded to prizes at numerous national competitions. In 1998 at their first participation in international competition, the highest-ranked VII. International Brass Competition in Narbonne (France), they were awarded the first prize and an extra prize by the jury. In the following two years the ensemble won prizes at eight high-ranked international competitions:
| 1998. | Narbonne, France: 1st prize and extra prize |
| 1999. | Moers, Germany: 3rd prize |
| 1999. | Munich, Germany: 2nd prize |
| 1999. | Passau, Germany: 2nd prize |
| 2000. | Brehmen, Germany: 1st prize |
| 2000. | Jeju city, South-Korea: 1st prize and extra prize |
| 2001. | Athen, USA: 2nd prize |
| 2001. | Passau, Germany: 2nd prize |
| 2001. | Munich, Germany: 1st prize |
Prizes - Honors
| 2000. | Bureau for Legal Protection of Copyright awarded the ARTISJUS prize to the quintet for the excellent interpretation of Hungarian contemporary music |
| 2002. | Government of the Hungarian Republic honored the Ewald Brass Quintet with Franz Liszt prize |
| 2003. | Bureau for Legal Protection of Copyright awarded the ARTISJUS prize |
| 2005. | Special Prize of the Hungarian revue Gramofon - Classical & Jazz |
| 2005. | Bureau for Legal Protection of Copyright awarded the ARTISJUS prize |
| 2008. | Prima Primissima - Prima Junior prize |
| 2010. | Bureau for Legal Protection of Copyright awarded the ARTISJUS prize to the quintet for the excellent interpretation of Hungarian contemporary music |
CD's - Recordings
| 1999. | West-German Radio of Karlsruhe |
| 2001. | "Chamber Music" (CD1) Grammy Records |
| 2002. | Hungarian Radio of Budapest |
| 2003. | Middle-German Radio of Leipzig |
| 2003. | Bayer Radio of Munich |
| 2003. | "Popular Music" (CD2) Allegro Thaler |
| 2005. | J. Bellon: Four Brass Quintets (CD3) Hungaroton Records LTD |
| 2006. | W. Ramsöe Brass Quartets (CD4) Hungaroton Records LTD |
| 2007. | J. Pezel & G. Reiche: Tower sonatas (CD5) Hungaroton Records LTD |
| 2008. | J. H. Schein: Chamber Music for Brass (CD6) Hungaroton Records LTD |
| 2008. | "Popular Music 2." (CD7) Ewald Brass |
| 2009. | Brass5 Pieces by Hungarian Composers (CD8) Hungaroton Records LTD |
| 2010. | A. Simon: 22 Little pieces for ensemble, Brass quartet in sonatina form op. 23 (CD9) Hungaroton Records LTD |
| 2011. | Frigyes Hidas: Training Patterns (CD10) Hungaroton Records LTD |
Major concerts
1998. Hungarian Cultural Festival in Warsaw - Poland
1998. Festival of Winners of International Competitions in Guebwiller - France
1990. 50 year anniversary of Chinese-Hungarian Diplomatic Relations - China
1999. "Swiss Brass Week" - Leukerbad - Switzerland
2001. Hungarian Cultural Festival in Paris - France
2002. International Brass Festival in Jeju - South-Korea
2003. International Book Fair in Zagreb - Croatia
2003. "Magyar Magic" Cultural Festival in London - Great Britain
2004. Hungarian Cultural Festival in Salzburg - Austria
2005. Hungarian Cultural Festival in St.Petersburg and Moscow - Russia
2009. Hungarian Cultural Festival in New York - USA
2010. Asia Tour: Beijing, Seoul, Taipei
2011. United Arab Emirates tour
2014. Minsk, Belarus
2015. Kuwait City, Kuwait
Following December 2003 the ensemble held a national tour at 15 locations sponsored by the GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical Company. They are permanent participants of the Spring Festival (Budapest), the Mini Festival (Budapest), the Bartók Seminar (Szombathely) and the Art Days of Zemplén.
