Composer Kamilló Lendvay passed away on 30 November 2016 at the age of 88. He was one of the most important members of the generation of Hungarian composers whose careers began in the 1950s. He studied composition with János Viski and conducting with László Somogyi at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. After graduating he was the musical director of the State Puppet Theatre, and the Hungarian Army Art Ensemble, later he was a conductor and (from 1972) the musical director of the Budapest Operetta Theatre. In 1972 he was appointed teacher of music theory at the Academy of Music in Budapest, and as a head of Music Theory Department he retired from there in 1992. As a president of Artisjus, the president of Hungarian Composers’ Society he was actively involved in Hungarian music life.

Passport to Hungary is the title of the program to be performed three times in Chapel Hill and in Raleigh by the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra (conducted by SARAH HICKS) on 12th-14th January. The concerts are focused on compositions inspired by Hungarian folk music. Along with works by Kodály, Bartók and Ravel, Kamilló Lendvay's Concerto semplice for cimbalom and orchestra will have its US Premiere by PETRA BERÉNYI, who currently lives in Raleigh and is a devoted performer of contemporary cimbalom repertoire. The traditional Hungarian hammered dulcimer occupies an important place in the oeuvre of the 83-year-old composer - he uses cimbalom several times in his solo and chamber works and in his concertos as well.