A sötétség vidám dalaiból

Commisioned by the municipality of Debrecen.

Ákos Zarándy was born in 1982, Budapest. He finished his studies in choir-conducting and in composition under János Vajda and Zoltán Jeney at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

In 2009, the first parts of his first opera entitled Las dos Fridas were performed in his diploma concert. In 2011, his symphonic piece entitled Nightmare Symphony was selected and performed within the frame of UMZF, the most important Hungarian composition competition. In 2011, he was among the winners of the one-act opera competition of the National Cultural Fund in Hungary. In 2014 and 2016 he received the Kodály Composer Grant.

Zarándy has regularly participated in contemporary music festivals in Hungary (Music of Our Age, Budapest Autumn Festival, Con Spirito, Béla Bartók International Choir Competition, International Bartók Seminar and Festival) and also in abroad (Gaudeamus Music Week, Ostrava Days). Many of his pieces have been performed in Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey, the United States and Mexico.