Transylvanian-born singer and songwriter based in Budapest
working across traditional and experimental music
My work centers on female stories and minority perspectives, explored through voice-based music and storytelling.Across different projects, I move between experimentation, free improvisation, and deeply rooted musical traditions, placing inherited musical languages into new artistic and social contexts.
I grew up in Transylvania, where traditional music was a natural and constant presence in my life. Although I was raised in an urban environment, I come from a background closely connected to rural cultural life. Folk musicians, cantors, and instrument makers were part of my wider surroundings, and music belonged to everyday life rather than to a separate artistic sphere.I was initially trained as a civil engineer and studied in Cluj-Napoca, working in the field for several years. I later moved to Budapest with the intention of pursuing music more consciously, and was admitted to the Liszt Academy of Music, where I studied jazz vocals. Although I did not complete my studies there, this period played an important role in shaping my musical thinking and vocal approach. I entered the professional music field relatively late, and rather than following a linear career path, I found my way into music gradually, through exploration, listening, and practical experience.My early musical practice unfolded primarily within experimental and free improvisation contexts, where I began exploring the voice as an open, physical, and expressive instrument. From there, I gradually immersed myself in traditional music practices, working with oral repertoires, archival recordings, and living performance contexts. Rather than separating these paths, my current work brings them together. Across my projects, I combine improvisation, experimental approaches, and deeply rooted musical traditions, allowing them to inform and transform one another. I am particularly interested in how traditional music can be recontextualized without losing its emotional, social, and historical depth.
find out more about my projects
Film soundtrack / collaborative project
Nefelejcs (Forget Me Not) is a film directed by Áron Mátyássy, with music created in collaboration with János Bangó and his ensemble. The project was created for the 10th anniversary of the Budapest Ritmo Festival and premiered at the Budapest Ritmo Film Days. Through this collaboration, Nefelejcs draws attention to the disappearing tradition of Hungarian Gypsy chamber music, placing it into a new cinematic and musical context.The film opens this musical language to audiences for whom it may not be an immediate point of reference, allowing the tradition to be heard outside its usual social and cultural settings. Following the premiere, the soundtrack was released as a standalone digital album, and is available on major streaming platforms. The film was also screened at the Méra World Music Festival.
experimental folk-doom
DUNYHA is an international music project based in Budapest, reimagining traditional Transylvanian folk songs through an experimental lens. The ensemble blends collective free improvisation with elements of doom metal, dark jazz, and noise-driven textures, revealing the psychological intensity embedded in folk music. Rather than treating folk material as a static heritage, DUNYHA approaches these songs as living emotional documents, engaging with themes such as obedience, forbidden love, loss, war trauma, fear, and longing. The project works at the intersection of oral tradition and contemporary experimental practices, allowing traditional melodies and texts to transform through collective interpretation.In 2025, DUNYHA was selected for the MOST Training Program, supporting the international development of emerging music projects. Building on this experience, the ensemble continues to develop its international presence, with plans to present the project at international showcase festivals and curated concert settings. Alongside live activity, DUNYHA is currently preparing the recording of its debut full-length album. The album is planned to reflect the project’s live sound and collective working method, further establishing DUNYHA’s artistic identity within the international experimental and folk-oriented music scene.
Vocalist, bandleader, arranger
upcoming
Stories from the Apple Garden is the debut songwriter album of Ilka Kisgyörgy, an artist previously known primarily for her work as a vocalist in traditional and experimental music contexts. The album explores themes of healing, memory, and inner transformation through fragmentary, poetic songwriting. Musically, it blends modal folk and early-music influences with contemporary minimalism, ambient drones, and electronic textures, shaped by non-tempered acoustic instruments.The sound world is built around voice and electro-acoustic guitar, with András Németh on hurdy-gurdy and analogue synthesizer, Ábel Dénes on double bass, and András Halmos on percussion. Rather than developing gradually, the music often moves from dense, layered textures into slower, more spacious states. A recurring metaphor throughout the album is the tension between nature and the city, a longing for retreat followed by an inevitable return to urban reality. Performed by a small ensemble with diverse musical backgrounds, the album is shaped by an improvisation-driven approach that allows the music to unfold beyond stylistic boundaries, while remaining grounded in carefully composed song frameworks.
medieval-contemporary electro-acoustic
folk symphonyA slow, healing narrative shaped by human imperfection and presence
A project rooted in lăutărească, the Romanian Roma musical tradition, drawing from dance music and urban folk repertoires shaped by oral transmission and ensemble-based performance practice.
A project exploring Balkan café-house genres, seeking a shared Balkan musical language across regions. The music is built around polyphonic singing, cimbalom, and accordion, focusing on the interplay of these characteristic Balkan instruments.
Vocal contribution on a Greek-Hungarian album, which achieved a strong placement on the European World Music Charts.
DUNYHA performs at Opus Jazz Club, a well-established jazz venue in Budapest.
The concert takes place within the framework of the Kurtág 100 Concert Week.
DUNYHA performs at the MENT Showcase Festival 2026 in Ljubljana, at Menza pri Koritu, as part of the festival’s showcase programme.
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