Created: 2026.01.26. 10:34
The Jávorkai brothers first embarked on a joint concert tour to Japan with music students of Széchenyi István University at the end of 2024. Their performances were met with great success, and as a continuation of the collaboration, the artists travelled to the island country once again with students from Győr for two further tours in December 2025 and January this year.
The Győr-born, internationally renowned sibling duo – violinist Sándor Jávorkai and cellist Ádám Jávorkai – have been regular returning guests in Japan for many years and have also performed in numerous countries across several continents. In December 2024, fourteen string-instrument students from the Faculty of Design and Performance Arts of Széchenyi István University travelled to the Asian country with the artists to take part in an Advent concert series comprising twenty performances. A spectacular documentary was also made about the tour.
Students of the Faculty of Design and Performance Arts of Széchenyi István University performed in Japan’s most significant concert halls together with violinist Sándor Jávorkai and cellist Ádám Jávorkai
“Our previous performances were received extremely positively by audiences, so this time we were already booked for two tours, one in December and one in January. Before Christmas, we performed solely with a string orchestra, while the New Year series was expanded to include wind and percussion instruments, and singers also appeared on stage. Thirteen students performed with us on the first tour, while twenty joined us on the latter,” said Ádám Jávorkai. He added that the students of SZE can be proud of the outstanding success they achieved together in Japan.
“After every single concert, we had to give four encores. Many people came up to us personally to thank us for the experience we had given them. All this while we were performing in the same series as world-leading orchestras and soloists such as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist András Schiff,” recalled Ádám Jávorkai. He added that they performed at numerous iconic venues, including the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, the Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall and the Symphony Hall in Osaka, all with seating capacities of several thousand. The cellist noted that the students from Győr made significant artistic progress and developed greatly in terms of orchestral collaboration. In addition to positive feedback from audiences, they also received high praise from professionals, as a result of which they have already been invited back for the next winter season.
For Elvira Haraszti, singer and actress, performer at the Madách Theatre, the Petőfi Theatre in Veszprém and the Rátonyi Róbert Theatre, and a student of the undivided teacher-training programme in music at Széchenyi István University, performing at these venues represented the fulfilment of a childhood dream. “It was a fantastic feeling to stand on stage each evening in front of an audience of several thousand and to experience the unique sound together with the orchestra in concert halls with unparalleled acoustics. The success of the sold-out performances and the love of the audience provided a lifetime experience,” she said.
She highlighted how much she enjoyed working with the Jávorkai brothers and the orchestra, while also learning a great deal from the collaboration. “There are very few universities where students have the opportunity to perform in Japan together with such renowned artists. We were able to discover a completely different world and a unique culture, and to experience the value that classical music and its representatives hold in the island country. I encourage all students to make the most of these opportunities, as they can gain an enormous amount from them,” the singer emphasised.
For Elvira Haraszti (in blue), the tour to the island country was a defining experience
Ákos Bódai, a student specialising in classical violin, had already taken part in the 2024 tour, and this time he was given an important role as assistant concertmaster in December and as concertmaster in January. “Before Christmas, we presented more intimate performances featuring significant works of classical music, while in the New Year we brought a lighter-hearted programme to the stage, enriched with waltzes, polkas and operetta excerpts,” he highlighted.
“These have been defining weeks for me, bringing professional development and valuable experience. Sándor and Ádám Jávorkai possess outstanding technical expertise, from which I was also able to learn a great deal,” he stressed. “I am grateful to have been given such an opportunity at just twenty years of age, as I have already performed in fifty concerts in a country where classical music holds very high prestige and where the most renowned performers appear.”
