From Hungary with Love : Cecilia Vajda

Biography of the musician, choir director and teacher Cecilia Vajda. The Hungarian and student of Zoltan Kodaly moved to England in 1967. There she was instrumental in spreading the educational concepts of Kodaly, especially for choir.

Born in Budapest, Cecilia Vajda was a dynamic and vivacious pioneering musician, totally dedicated to her art. Appointed Director of the Hungarian Radio Choir in 1959, she enjoyed a highly successful career in a male dominated world - a woman very much ahead of her time.Cecilia came to England in 1967 following an invitation from Yehudi Menuhin on the recommendation of the celebrated Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. Once here, she began to introduce and popularize Kodály''s Concept of Music Education throughout the UK, founding the British Kodály Academy in 1981.Honoured in 2009 with the prestigious Bartók Pásztory Award, yet as this volume so vividly recalls, while Cecilia Vajda''s supreme gifts gave her music such an unforgettable quality, amid all the many trials and tribulations, it was her natural goodness that shone through to bring such an added distinction to a rich and fulfilling life.