| Máté Bella | |
| Native Name: | Bella Máté |
| Birth Date: | 28 November 1985 |
| Birth Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
| Occupation: | composer and university lecturer |
| Years Active: | present |
Máté Bella (born 28 November 1985, in Budapest) is a Junior Prima Award, Erkel Ferenc and Béla Bartók–Ditta Pásztory Prize winner composer and university lecturer.
His work exhibits a wide range of genres and styles as evidenced by his classical and contemporary music, opera, choral works, musicals, theater music, and pop music. Prominent international orchestras perform his contemporary works, both his popular music and classical pieces are played on radio stations, while his music is presented in several theatres.
He commenced his musical studies at Erkel Ferenc Primary School for Music, and later studied at Weiner Leó Secondary Music School, specializing in composition and piano. He continued his music education at Bartók Béla Secondary Music School between 2002 and 2006, where the primary focus of his studies was composition as a student of Prof. Miklós Kocsár. After finishing high school in 2006, he was admitted to the Liszt Academy and graduated in 2011 as student of Prof. Gyula Fekete.[1] In 2013, he studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków for a semester on an Erasmus scholarship in the class of Prof. Wojciech Widłak. In 2017, he was awarded a scholarship for the New National Excellence Program and a year later, in 2018 he received his summa cum laude doctoral degree. Since 2019, he has been a senior lecturer at the Liszt Academy.
In 2009, he was the youngest awardee of the first New Hungarian Music Forum composer competition organized by Müpa Budapest and the Budapest Music Center.[2] This award has brought significant recognition for him, followed by several propositions to compose theatre music. This was followed by his ensemble piece Chuang Tzu's Dream which was acclaimed in the "under 30" category by several classical music radio stations by the International Music Council in Lisbon in 2010.[3] This piece was performed – amongst others – by the London Sinfonetta. In the same year, he was awarded the Junior Prima Award (given to those under the age of 30 for outstanding achievements in different fields[4]) as the first composer to receive this recognition.[5] In 2011, one of his pieces written for a play of the Hungarian National Theatre, was given the Theatre Critics Award. Later, he received the Erkel Ferenc Award in 2016, and the Bartók-Pásztory Award in 2019.
His pieces are performed in festivals and concert halls such as the,[6] the musica viva in Munich,[7] and the the Lucerne Festival Academy, the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Art Festival,[8] the Mini Festival,[9] the Hungarian State Opera,[10] a Philharmonie de Paris and the Juilliard School. Several Hungarian and international orchestras play his pieces, such as the Ensemble InterContemporain, the London Sinfonietta, the Ensemble Modern, the Klangforum Wien, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Doelen Ensemble, the UMZE Chamber Ensemble, the Hungarian National Philharmonic or the Budapest Festival Orchestra. On 26 June 2017, Chuang Tzu's Dream was performed in the world-famous Tonhalle in Zurich, accompanied by works from composers such as Péter Eötvös, György Kurtág, Máté Balogh, Balázs Horváth and Péter Tornyai. The concert was conducted by Péter Eötvös.[11] In 2018, his piece Lethe was played by the orchestra of the Lucerne Festival Academy in the Elbphilharmonie. His music has been staged in the Hungarian National Theatre, the Comedy Theatre of Budapest, the Budapest Operetta Theatre, the Budapest Puppet Theatre and the Hungarian State Opera. In 2017, his music composed for the movie Halj már meg! (Just Drop Dead) was nominated in the "Best Composer" category at the Hungarian Film Awards.[12] The Song Mostantól (From Now On) with music by Máté Bella and Gergő Rácz, won the A Dal 2020 show and also received the Petőfi Music Award for Song of the Year and Hungarian Music Awards Fonogram prize in the best Hungarian modern pop-rock album or recording of the year category.[13]
He composes several genres from popular to contemporary music, but primarily considers himself a contemporary composer. He does not aim to create an interchange between different genres. He considers it his mission to integrate Generation Y and Z into the classical music scene, making this genre both attractive and comprehensible for them. He is a member of the Artisjus Committee of Classical Music Critics,[14] the Association of Hungarian Composers[15] and the "Musician/Composer" section of the Hungarian Film Academy Association.[16] He is one of the founder of the contemporary composer group, created in 2016.
| Work | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| The Butterfly's Dream | 2005 | |
| Psycho Symbioses | 2006 | |
| El Tango de Viudas Engañadas | 2007 | |
| Message, Message 02 | 2007 | |
| Preludes | 2007 | |
| Insomnia | 2008 | |
| Insomnia – commentaries | 2008 | |
| Silk | 2008 | |
| The Secret | 2009 | |
| Something happened... | 2009 | |
| Manifestations | 2010 | |
| ...in paradise | 2010 | |
| Ritual | 2010 | |
| Study | 2011 | |
| Visions | 2012 | |
| Phantasm | 2013 | |
| Varródermia | 2018 | |
| Titan | 2020 | |
| Fons | 2020 | |
| Aeolus | 2021 | |
| Beneath the Starry Night | 2021 | |
| De Agnete | 2021 | |
| Monochronic | 2022 | |
| Judas | 2022 | |
| Airambulum | 2024 | |
| The White Chaconne | 2024 |
| Work | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Equivalence | 2007 | |
| Chuang Tzu's Dream | 2008 | |
| Trance | 2013 | |
| Reflections | 2013 | |
| Hypnos | 2014 | |
| Laniakea | 2015 | |
| Hesperus | 2017 |
| Work | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| The Night's Monologue | 2011 | |
| Suite | 2012 | |
| Sounds of Generation Y | 2015 | |
| Tabula Smaragdina | 2018 | |
| Sounds of Generation Y Part II | 2018 | |
| Love of Hephaestus | 2023 |
| Work | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Lethe | 2014 | |
| About Time | 2023 |
| Work | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Peace | 2013 | |
| The Home at Night | 2014 | |
| Lacrimosa | 2015 | |
| Eternal Music | 2020 | |
| O Oriens | 2021 | |
| Summer Song | 2023 | |
| Dies Irae | 2024 |
| Work | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Awakening | 2012[17] | |
| The Coronation of Poppea[18] (L'incoronazione di Poppea) | 2019 |
| Title | Theatre | Premiere | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who the F**k is Lady Domina? | Academy of Drama and Film, Budapest | 2009 | |
| Better than Sex | Courtyard Theatre, London | 2010[19] | |
| The Demon Cat | Madách Theatre, Budapest | 2010 | |
| Budapest Operetta and Musical Theatre | 2018 | ||
| freewill >>>> | Erkel Theatre, Budapest | 2023 |
| Title | Theatre | Premiere | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aria of the Miller's Daughter (A molnárlány áriája) | Sándor Weöres | 2008 | |
| Botond's Emergency Song (Botond vészdala) | Attila Havasi | 2010 | |
| [anya milyen] | Orsolya Karafiáth | 2012 | |
| To the Unknown Sweatheart (Az ismeretlen kedveshez) | Sándor Weöres | 2013 |
| Title | Artist(s) | Publication | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Gotta Fly (Valami más) | Lilla Polyák[20] | 2013 | |
| It Can't Be Over | Fool Moon[21] | 2014 | |
| Bolondod voltam | Gergő Rácz, Ív | 2016 | |
| Emlékkép | Tibor Kocsis | 2016 | |
| Crack my code | Reni Tolvai | 2017[22] | |
| Everest | Reni Tolvai | 2017[23] | |
| Mostantól (From Now On) | Gergő Rácz, Reni Orsovai | 2019[24] | |
| Maradj | Lilla Polyák | 2021 |
| Title | Theatre | Premiere | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Widows (Özvegyek) | Academy of Drama and Film, Budapest | 2007 | |
| Berzsian and Dideki (Berzsián és Dideki) | National Theatre, Budapest | 2009 | |
| Intrigue and Love (Ármány és Szerelem) | Müpa Budapest, Budapest | 2009 | |
| Hungarian Celebration (Magyar Ünnep) | National Theatre, Budapest | 2010 | |
| Mephisto | National Theatre, Budapest | 2013 | |
| Danton's Death (Danton halála) | Comedy Theatre, Budapest | 2013 | |
| The Evil Spirit Lumpazivagabundus (Lumpáciusz Vagabundusz) | Comedy Theatre, Budapest | 2014 | |
| The Imaginary Invalid (A képzelt beteg) | Budapest Puppet Theatre, Budapest | 2016 | |
| Frau Holle (Holle anyó) | Budapest Puppet Theatre, Budapest | 2017 | |
| Title | Nationality, GenreDirector; Producer(s) | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indián[25] | Hungarian tragicomedyIstván P. Szabó; Placebo Stars, Sparks | 2013 | |
| Just Drop Dead (Halj már meg![26]) | Hungarian feature filmZoltán Kamondi; FocusFox Studio, Honeymood Films | 2016 |
| +Compilation albums | Work(s) | Album | Publisher | Year | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mate Bella: Moods / Stimmungen[27] | TON 4 Records | 2005 | |||
| MessageMessage 02 | Young Hungarian Composers for Cimbalom[28] | 2009 | Beáta Móri | ||
| Chuang Tzu's Dream | New Hungarian Music Forum 2009 composers' competition[29] | BMC HMIC | 2010 | CD 1 | |
| Contemporary Classics I: Moods[30] | Erwin Pitsch Publishing / TON 4 Records | 2012 | |||
| Valami más (single)[31] | Sony Music | 2013 | Lilla Polyák | ||
| It Can't Be Over[32] (kislemez) | Schubert Music Publishing | 2014 | Fool Moon | ||
| Emlékkép[33] | 3 | 2016 | Tibor Kocsis | ||
| Bolondod Voltam (Sante Cruze Remix) (Feat. Ív) (single)[34] | Schubert Music Publishing | 2016[35] | Gergő Rácz, Ív | ||
| Crack my code (single) | Magneoton | 2018[36] | Reni Tolvai | ||
| Everest (single) | Magneoton | 2018[37] | Reni Tolvai | ||