Irén Lovász is a Hungarian

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

. She has a total of 12 albums to her credit, including on the Erdenklang Music, CC'nC Records, Fono, and

Hungaroton Hungaroton is the oldest record and music publisher company in Hungary. Hungaroton was founded in 1951, when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and from other socialist countries. P ...

Classics labels as well as recent CDs on her own SIRENVOICES label. She is featured on several compilations, including on the

HEARTS OF SPACE ''Hearts of Space'' is an American weekly syndicated public radio show featuring music of a contemplative nature"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are an ...

label,

WARNER MUSIC France Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Music Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * A ...

, Minos-EMI, and other

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

compilations.

Music career

Her first solo CD, ''Világfa'' (1995, and 1999. Fonó Records), appeared at the request of the

Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum (, ) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is separate to the collection of int ...

to be used as

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

for the exclusive archeological exhibition of the

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

of the Hungarian conquest. The music was created by László Hortobágyi. Her first solo CD in Germany, ''Rosebuds in a Stoneyard'' (Erdenklang 1996), received the German Critics' Award in the genre

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

/world music. She was also the soloist in Early Music groups and also sang

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

and worked with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musicians. She toured in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

with the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

-based jazz guitarist, Ferenc Snétberger. (see. ''Obsession'', Enja Records 1998). She was also a member of the Gayan Uttejak Orchestra directed by László Hortobágyi. An

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n contemporary composer,

Peeter Vähi Peeter Vähi (born 18 May 1955, Tartu) is a classical Estonian composer. Vähi's work ''Relaxatio'', written in 1992 and inspired by Asian intonal elements of Tibetan canticles, is a noted electronic work of psychotherapeutic music.Mark Rais. '' ...

wrote new music for her voice in which she sings early medieval Tibetan and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

language texts: ''Supreme Silence'' (CC'nC Records 2000). From 1998 until 2003, she worked with the Makám group. Their project is based on ancient Hungarian folk songs, and the authentic performance of these with Irén's voice. However, it also conceives a new musical world by the

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, Zoltán Krulik, using the language of contemporary music, employing the style of ethno-jazz, and adopting different ethnic sounds and instruments of traditional cultures. Their collaborative CDs are: ''Skanzen'' 1999, 9 ''Colinda'' 2001, and ''Sindbad'' 2002. (Fonó Records) In 2000, she was invited as a vocal soloist by the Hungarian World Music orchestra. In 1999, she worked for some years with the Czech-Moravian-Slovak eclectic folk music group TEAGRASS. Their CD is titled: ''Wide is the Danube'' ( CC'nC Records 2000). Since 2001, she has been a member of the 'e-jam' project, which is a mobile formation consisting of varying European musicians and performing mainly in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. In 2001, she performed repeated sold-out concerts with a repertoire of Hungarian Renaissance music, songs and poems, with the classical

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

player, István Kónya. In 2001, she began her next project, an acoustic duo with a

contrabass Contrabass (from ) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family ...

player, Attila Lőrinszky. In 2003, she received The SINGER OF THE YEAR eMeRton AWARD in Hungary. In 2005, she founded a new band, and with them she made a new cd: ''Cloud doors'' (Hungaroton Classic 2005). The new music is based on archaic Hungarian folk songs, sacred songs and medieval

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

s. The style is ethno-jazz, worldmusic, crossover. In 2006, on her own new label she started to publish a new CD series on Healing Voices, which was also recommended by the Hungarian Association of Music Therapists: ''Sacred Voice'', (SIRENVOICES 2006), ''Inner Voice'', (SIRENVOICES 2007). In 2008, she accomplished a crossover project with renown musicians of varied musical backgrounds, like Kornél Horváth (jazz), Béla Ágoston (folk, ethno-jazz) and István Győri, Zsolt Szabó (early music). The music is based on Hungarian Renaissance

love poetry Poetry (from the Greek word '' poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any particul ...

, folksongs and dance tunes of the 16-18th centuries. The CD is titled: ''Flower in Love'', (SIRENVOICES 2008.) In 2009 she made a third, revised, remixed edition of her famous Világfa CD with László Hortobágyi : ''Világfa'' (SIRENVOICES 2009.) From 2009 to the present she has been leading a weekly therapeutic singing circle in the center of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

aimed at healing, communion and personal expression, all in line with her HEALING VOICES album series concept.

Discography

Solo compact discs

# ''Világfa'' (Music by László Hortobágyi) Budapest, National Museum 1995., Fonó Records 1999 (Hungary) # ''Rosebuds in a Stoneyard'' (Music by László Hortobágyi), Erdenklang Music 1996.(Germany) RECEIVED THE GERMAN RECORD CRITIC'S AWARD IN 1996/3 IN THE GENRE FOLK/WORLD MUSIC! # ''Supreme Silence'' (Music by Peeter Vähi) CCn'C Records 1998.(Germany-USA) # ''Skanzen'' (Music: Makám, composed by: Zoltán Krulik) Fonó Records 1999. (Hungary) # ''Wide is the Danube'' (Music: TEAGRASS, comp. by. Jiri Plocek) CC'nC 2000. (Germany, U.S.A.) # ''9 Colinda'' (Music: Makám, composed by : Zoltán Krulik) Fonó Records 2001. (Hungary) # ''Sinbad'' (Music: Makám, composed by: Zoltán Krulik) Fonó Records 2002. (Hungary) # ''Cloud Doors/ FELLEGAJTÓ'' ( Music: Mizsei, Lukács, Szokolay Dongó, Lovász). Hungaroton classic, 2005 (Hungary) # ''Sacred Voice'' /ÉGI HANG, Healing voices 1. SIRENVOICES 2006. # ''Inner Voice'' / BELSŐ HANG, Healing Voices 2. SIENVOICES 2007. # ''Flower in Love''/ Szerelmes Virág cd. SIRENVOICES 2008. # ''Világfa'' Remix cd, SIRENVOICES 2009. # Soundscape/Hangtájkép cd, (Irén Lovász-Groove&Voice Trio: Kornél Horváth, Zoltán Mizsei) SIRENVOICES 2015. # Three Voices/ Trí hlasy: Jitka Šuranská / Irén Lovász / Michal Elia Kamal: Indies Scope/CZ, 2015. # Női Hang / Female Voice, Healing Voices 3. SIRENVOICES 2017.

World music albums and compilations

World music albums and compilations of several record companies around the world, or guest singer of various musical productions such as: # ''Traditional Music of Amygdala'' by László Hortobágyi, Erdenklang 1991, Germany # ''The Transglobal and Magical Sound of László Hortobágyi'', Network Medien GmbH 1996, Germany # ''Her Song'', Shanachie Corp. 1996, USA # ''Tanz and Folkfest'', Rudolstadt, Hei Deck 1997, Germany # ''Ferenc Snétberger: Obsession'', Enja Records 1998, Germany # ''Origines'', Warner Music France, 1998, France # ''Ethnic Voices and Songs'', MINOS-EMI 1998, Greece # ''Mother Earth'', MINOS-EMI 1998, Greece # ''Origins (De l'origine de l'Homme)'' Origins-EMI 1998, France # ''World Voices 1'', Hearts of Space, 1998, USA # ''Ethnica and World Music'', New Sounds 1998, Italy # ''Beautiful Morning...'', Koch Records 1999, Germany # ''World Festival of Sacred Music 1-2'', CCn'C Records, 1999, Germany-USA # ''Hungarian Rhapsody Music by Kálmán Oláh and Peter Lehel'', GOOD International Co., 2002. Korea # ''Contrasts + Parallels by Kálmán Oláh Trio'', MA Recordings, 2004., Japan # ''I Sowed Pearls'', Hungarian world music, Etnofon Records, 2007.

Irén Lovász Bibliography

1986 Roland Barthes: Világoskamra. Janus I.4. osz. 1–14. 1991 "Szent Szó, Szent Beszéd..." Az archaikus népi imádságok megértéséhez. Vigila 56.6. 335–336. 1992 * Sacred Language and Secret Speech. in: Hoppál, M.-Pentikäinen, J. (eds): Northern Religions and Shamanism. Budapest-Helsinki.39-45. * Boundaries Between Language and World in "Archaic World Concept". Paper for the X. Congress of the International Society of Folk Narrative Research. "Folk narrative and world view". Innsbruck. 4–11 July. L.Petzold (ed.): Folk narrative and world view. Innsbruck. 463–369. * Népi imádságok pragmatikai megközelítése. Eloadás a Magyar Szemiotikai Társaság "Irányzatok és kutatási programok a mai magyar szemiotikában" c. konferenciáján, nov.4. kézirat 1993 * Oral Christianity in Hungary: Interpreting Interpretations. in: Davies, J. & I. Wollaston (eds.) The Sociology of Sacred Texts. Sheffield Academic Press. 72–82. * Religion and Revolution: A Hungarian Pilgrimage in Rumania, in: Martin, L. (ed.) Religious Transformations and Socio-Political Change. Eastern Europe and Latin America. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, New York. 127–142. 1994 "Az elme hallja, nem a fül". Egy asszony látomásainak antropológiai megközelítése. in: Küllos I.-Pócs É. (szerk.): Álom, látomás, extázis. Bp. 156–173. 156–173. 1999 A szakrális kommunikáció elméletéhez. In Benedek K. - Csonka Takásc E. (szerk.): Démonikus és szakrális világok határán. Mentalitástörténeti tanulmányok Pócs Éva 60. Születésnapjára. Budapest, 419–440. 2000 Az imádkozásról. In Barna G. (szerk.) Nyisd meg Uram, szent ajtódat. Köszönto kötet Erdélyi Zsuzsanna 80. Születésnapjára. Budapest 3-37. 2001 Életrajzi beszélgetés Erdélyi Zsuzsannával. In Barna G. (szerk. Nyisd meg Uram)Budapest XI-XLV. 2002 Szakrális kommunikáció. Európai Folklór Intézet, Budapest 2005. Gyógyító hang. Előadás a Gyógyító hagyomány c. konferencián.Bp. Hagyományok Háza 2005. A szakrális kommunikáció kutatásáról. Előadás a Szakrális kommunikáció c. konferencián. Bp. Károly Egyetem 2006. Gyógyító hagyomány. Avagy az írástudatlan alkotók tisztelete. Ludányi András (szerk.) Itt-Ott kalendárium.(53-64), Ohio, USA 2008.a. A szakrális kommunikáció kutatásáról, különös tekintettel az imádságra. In. Studia Caroliensia, 2008/2. 37-46 2008.b. Healing Voice. Sacral Communication and healing .Presented in the Symposium: Sacral Communication and Healing /2., at Károlyi Gáspár University, Budapest, Hungary. 1 September 2008. 2010. The Power of Sustainable Heritage through the Healing Voice of Traditional Singing. Presented at the Symposium on Sustainable Heritage, Budapest, Hungary. MTA, 24 April 2010.

Reviews and articles

* Underground Magazin - zenei és kulturális hírek, leírások, fotók *Manuálterápia és gyógytorna - Sherlock Rehab *Hungarian folk and world music singer Iren Lovasz discovers churches as favourite concert venues *Nyitóoldal - Fonó Nyitóoldal - Fonó
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References

External links

* Irén Lovász {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovasz, Iren Hungarian folk singers Hungarian women folk singers Hungarian jazz singers Hungarian women jazz singers 21st-century Hungarian women singers Living people 1961 births People from Karcag 20th-century Hungarian women singers Tibetan-language singers Sanskrit-language singers