What is FBFO?
The FBFO was formed to support the Orchestra’s work in the USA and across the world.
Supporters of the Foundation raise public awareness and financial support for the BFO and have the opportunity to build a closer relationship with the Orchestra both in the States and at home in Budapest.
The Orchestra
Iván Fischer founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1983 together with Zoltán Kocsis.
Thanks to its innovative approach to music and the uncompromising dedication of its musicians, the BFO has become the youngest ensemble to join the world’s top ten symphony orchestras. They are both present at the most important international concert venues and streaming platforms. The BFO has been recognized by the prestigious British Gramophone magazine three times: in 1998 and 2007 for the best recording, while in 2022 they were named Orchestra of the Year. The BFO’s most considerable successes are connected to Mahler: their recording of Symphony No. 1 was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2013.
The BFO has also made a name for itself with its series of innovative concerts. The Autism-friendly Cocoa Concerts, the Surprise Concerts, Midnight Music performances, free open-air concerts in Budapest and the Community Weeks are all unique in their own ways. Another special feature of the orchestra is that its members regularly form a choir at their concerts.
Each year, the BFO stages an opera production directed and conducted by Iván Fischer. The performances have been invited to the Mostly Mozart Festival, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg; in 2013, the Marriage of Figaro led the New York Magazine’s list of the best classical music events of the year. The Vicenza Opera Festival, founded by Iván Fischer, debuted in the fall of 2018 at the Teatro Olimpico.
Iván Fischer
Conductor, composer, opera director, thinker and educator, Iván Fischer is considered one of the most visionary musicians of our time.
In the mid-1980s he founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra, where he has developed several new concert formats and reformed the structure and working method of the symphony orchestra. His work as Music Director of the BFO, his international tours and a series of recordings for Philips Classics and Channel Classics, has developed into one of the greatest musical success stories of the last 40 years.
He has founded a number of festivals, including the Budapest Mahlerfest, the Bridging Europe festival and the Vicenza Opera Festival.
He was principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, the Opéra National de Lyon and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the latter appointing him Conductor Laureate. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra named him Honorary Guest Conductor following many decades of working together. He is a frequent guest conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. In July 2024, Iván Fischer was named Music Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra.
After various guest appearances at international opera houses, he founded the Ivan Fischer Opera Company. His staging always sets as its goal an organic unity between music and theatre. IFOC productions have been received with great acclaim in Hamburg, New York, London, Edinburgh, Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Geneva and Budapest.
Iván Fischer has been active as a composer since 2004, writing mostly vocal music with instrumental ensembles.
