| Hangszer | Vocal |
The Saint Ephraim Male Choir is the only professional Byzantine musical ensemble in Hungary. It comprises of members from various Greek Catholic choirs working in Budapest (the Rózsák Square Greek Catholic Choir, the Csepel St Ephraim Chorus), as well as professional singers who love Byzantine liturgical music.
Their principal aim is to perform musical treasures from the central East European and Hungarian Byzantine churches in an authentic manner. Additionally, they sometimes programme works from the Hungarian and international male choir repertoire that can be performed by a small vocal ensembles. Their leader is singer and conductor Tamás Bubnó (1957) who undertook doctoral research into the origin of Greek Catholic melodies in Hungary and the Carpathian area.
In May 2003, the choir was invited to the Polish Hajnówka orthodox music festival – the first choir from Hungary to be asked – and to their own surprise, took the second prize competing against the Slavic, Baltic and Balkan choirs who are far more steeped in this great tradition. The choir regularly participates in Greek Catholic liturgies and is a resident performer at the programmes of the National Ruthenian Minority Government. Since the choir was formed in 2002, they have been invited to many important Hungarian festivals (Valley of Arts, Zemplén Festival, Óbuda Summer Festival, Mother of the Hungarians Church Music Festival) as well as to Poland, Macedonia, Romania and Ukraine. In May 2005, the choir gave concerts in St Petersburg and Moscow as part of the Russian Hungarian Cultural Season.
