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Gábor Móczár, a Hungarian member of the European Choral Association?s board, said Hungary?s application to host the festival was the strongest, beating ones by Graz and the Swedish city of Örebro. He added that Graz was likely to apply again to host the festival in 2018.
Deputy State Secretary for Culture Judit Hammerstein said a basic condition for the decision was the Hungarian government?s move to commit 150 million forints to the budget for the event.
The 150 million in state funding will be matched by the city of Pécs. The state will transfer 10 percent of the funding in 2013, 15 percent in 2014 and 75 percent in 2015. This year, Pécs will cover the entire cost of preparations to host the festival.
Pécs Mayor Zsolt Páva said the city had raised its profile and established a representative institutional presence during the time it held the 2010 European Capital of Culture title.
The Europa Cantat Festival is held every three years. It draws about 4,000 singers who participate in workshops with conductors and composers.
The festival takes place over ten days and makes use of public spaces, churches, museums and cultural institutions all over the city in which it is hosted.
Europa Cantat, the festival organiser, is comprised of 50 member organisations in Europe and a further hundred choruses and individual members in 50 countries around the world.
Altogether, Europa Cantat directly represents more than a million and indirectly represents more than 20 million singers, conductors and composers.
The 2012 Europa Cantat is being held in Turin.
Pécs deputy mayor Csaba Nagy and chairman of the local council?s education and culture committee Péter Hoppál announced the city?s candidacy for the 2015 Europa Cantata Festival last October. Pécs hosted the festival once before, in 1988.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
