With its art and music, this orchestra will find the way to the heart of the audience anywhere and any time, thus enriching the colourful portfolio of European culture. Since its formation the orchestra performed more than a thousand concerts ranging from small community venues to grand and famous concert halls around the world.
According to the critics “there is something enchanting” when “the world most famous and largest Gypsy orchestra” appears on stage. The reason behind this is that the very same enthusiasm takes them over on each show. Beside classical pieces of arts – including those of Liszt, Bartók, Kodály, Hubay, Erkel, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Sarasate, Strauss – they also play traditional Hungarian Gypsy music, Hungarian melodies and folk songs alike.
The main attraction at the opening ceremony of the Lisbon World Exhibition was the BGSO concert in front of twenty thousand people. In Cartago they won the “Festival Award” on the 45th International Music Festival. An audience of fifteen thousand celebrated the bursting success. In Paris at the Theatre des Champs Elysées they played on 55 shows between 2002 and 2014 with great success. They participate on concert tours in France and Monaco each year in a row from 1994 on, performing on stage in nearly all large and small cities. They played in cities in Africa, The Americas, Asia, Australia, and a number of European cities.
BGSO and Hundred Gypsy Violins published 21 CDs, 5 DVDs, of which 8 and 14 have become platinum and golden discs, respectively. A number of radio and television recordings were made about them, they won the Standard Prize of the Hungarian Radio and a number of professional recognitions on several domestic and international festivals.
The 25 member Junior Section was formed with the objective that over time the now young talents could form the future generation and the backbone of the orchestra.
The BGSO and Hundred Gypsy Violins fits organically into the Hungarian system of cultural institutions. Its main goal is to maintain this exceptional musical value. Preserving the centuries long tradition passed down by Gypsies from generation to generation as a family heritage. They won the Hungarian Heritage Prize in 2000, the same year they were also included in the Guinness Book of Records.
From March 2018 the BGSO and Hundred Gypsy Violins is entitled to use the distinguished title of HUNGARICUM, which ia a collective term indicating such a value worth the distinction and excellence in a uniform classification, categorisation and registration system which can be regarded as a top achievement of the Hungarians through its characteristic features typical for the Hungarians, through its uniqueness, specialty and high quality.
