Beáta Palya

Born November 11, 1976, in Hungary, Beáta Palya’s journey towards becoming the artist she is today began when she was just a child. From an early beginning with a folk group from her village, Beáta went on to win regional singing competitions before joining Zurgo, a traditional folk group, at the age of 16. Inspired by these experiences, she went on to study the ancient song cultures of Hungary and Transylvania at University: her thesis explored the relationship between traditional and modern music. Despite her interest in the theoretical and historical side to music, performing remained her first love. To the Hungarian folk of her youth, she has crafted Jazz, Gypsy, Indian and Persian influences into her ever-developing style.

Born November 11, 1976, in Hungary, Beáta Palya’s journey towards becoming the artist she is today began when she was just a child. From an early beginning with a folk group from her village, Beáta went on to win regional singing competitions before joining Zurgo, a traditional folk group, at the age of 16. Inspired by these experiences, she went on to study the ancient song cultures of Hungary and Transylvania at University: her thesis explored the relationship between traditional and modern music.

Despite her interest in the theoretical and historical side to music, performing remained her first love. To the Hungarian folk of her youth, she has crafted Jazz, Gypsy, Indian and Persian influences into her ever-developing style. In addition, four-years spent working with a musical theatre - Szoke "Bladder Circus" Szabolcs - allowed her to explore a range of vocal traditions from around the world, which have all added to the development of her unique voice.

Prior to launching her solo career, Beáta performed with a number of groups. Between 1997 and 2003, she joined the folk group Karpatia as their principal singer and dancer and co-founded the world-music group Folkestra with Andras Monori and five other musicians. She also performed with Sebo, a traditional troubadour group acclaimed for their representations of Hungarian ballads, and toured Japan with the celebrated classical organist Laszlo Fassang. Their innovative fusion of improvised organ music and folk songs was greeted so enthusiastically that the tour was repeated a second time. In the winter of 2002, Beáta received a four-month fellowship to study Indian music with Kakoli Sengupta and Patrick Moutal, she participated in the Belgian musical project Caravane as a singer for the Balkan folk group Daraduna and she was awarded the Artisjus prize for music in Hungary.

Beáta officially launched her career as a soloist in January 2003 and her first solo album, Ágrol-ágra – Tradition in Motion - was released on Orpheia that September. Since going solo she has performed across the world, including in Paris, Amsterdam, Budapest, London, Sao Paulo and Moscow. Highlights so far have included opening the 2004 Cultural Olympiad in Athens in, where she represented Hungary during the international concert ‘The World and Manos Hadjidakis’: 12 musicians from around the world (including Teresa Salgueiro from Madredeus), presented the works of the great Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis, in their own language.

In March 2005, Beáta formed her own Quintet and merged the classical, folk and jazz influences of accomplished Gypsy musicians Lukács Miklós and Novák Csaba, on the acoustic bass and cimbalom resepctively, with the talents of Hungarian mulit-wind instrumentalist Szokolay Dongó Balázs and percussionist Dés András. In 2006, Beáta saw her 2nd solo album, Álom-álom, kitalálom (2004) – a musical fairytale for adults and children alike - translated into a Hungarian theatre production, she recorded seven songs for the soundtrack of – and played a role in - the new Tony Gatlif film Transylvania, and she signed with the French record label Naive. She also released her 3rd solo album, Psyché, to great acclaim.

Following the release of Psyché, Beáta has been chosen to receive the 2006 Aphelandra Award – a Hungarian award for humanist and / or cultural achievements. Psyché couples the voice and music of Beáta and her Quintet with the poetry of the celebrated Hungarian poet Weöres Sandor. Filled with folk, Gypsy and jazz influences, it is a work which takes you on an 80 minute long journey to a very particular Hungary.

So far, the multi-lingual Beáta has only recorded albums in Hungarian – albeit with a smattering of German or French on occasion. However, she has stated a desire to sing in French and English on her next disc.

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2/8/09: Beáta Palya

A rising star, Beáta Palya sings silky vocals and fuses Hungarian folk and Gypsy music with jazz and pop.

Beáta Palya

A rising star, Beáta Palya sings silky vocals and fuses Hungarian folk and Gypsy music with jazz and pop.

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