Orchestra director Zsolt Horváth said it was an honour to be selected for the role. He added that the orchestra would begin its duties with a series of concerts in Germany as part of the Ungarischer Akzent Hungarian cultural season there.
Pannon Philharmonic musical director Zsolt Hamar said the orchestra would place a special emphasis on learning and teaching in 2007 with a special concert series, called "Help! It's Classical Music", aimed at making classical music more accessible to young people.
Márton Méhes, the recently appointed artistic director for the European Capital of Culture 2010 programme in Pécs, said the task at hand was one of the most exciting in Hungary, as it involves creating a cultural strategy for a city other than Budapest.
Tasnádi added that preparations for the programme represent the start of the cultural decentralisation in Hungary.
Méhes said a paper on tasks for 2007 related to the programme would be submitted to the Ministry of Education and Culture by the end of February, but the structure of financing for the programme would be prepared only gradually. Méhes said he had warned participants in the programme against "using up all of their ammunition" too early, as the peak of activity would be seen only in 2010.
Preliminary contracts with invited guest participants in the programme for 2010 should be signed already this year, Méhes said. He noted that it had been part of Pécs's application for the title that the programme and its related projects would create a kind of southern cultural zone in the region, which is also home to several cities which share a similar history as Pécs, such as Timioara and Arad in Romania.
The programme's architectural director Gábor Freivogel said that tenders for building developments must be completed by April. Panels and international advisory bodies must make decisions by April or May so that construction can be started within 9 months, he said.
Horváth said that the architect for a new concert and conference centre in Pécs is expected to be appointed by April. There are plans to invite tenders for symphonic works and perhaps even operas for 2010, he added.
