From the Office in Budapest

Dear IKS Members and Friends of the International Kodály Society,

The year 2023 has proven to be a banner year for the IKS, culminating in our post-COVID return to an in-person symposium. How wonderful it was to gather in Los Angeles to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first International Kodály Symposium! Additionally, we continue to reorganize the IKS Office and improve its operations through the initiative of Executive Secretary Krisztina Molnár-Litvai. More is in the planning for the coming years.

During our Fourth Quarter IKS Board Meeting in October, the IKS Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Vice-President Dr. László Norbert Nemes. He has taken the post of musical director for the national youth choirs of The Netherlands, which also necessitated his resigning as director of the Kodály Institute of the Franz Liszt University of Music.

In view of Dr. Nemes’ resignation and after reviewing the IKS Statutes, the Board unanimously voted to appoint Dr. Zsuzsanna Polyák as Vice-President pending ratification by IKS members through an exceptional online general assembly. You will be contacted shortly by the IKS Office to participate in that vote.

This October, Zsuzsanna Polyák successfully defended her dissertation, The History of the International Kodály Society from 1975 until Today,” and graduated with summa cum laude honors from the Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Pedagogy and Psychology Doctoral School of Education. We extend our heartiest congratulations to Dr. Polyák and look forward to the English translation of her dissertation, of which she presented aspects of her findings in the 2021 and 2023 symposia. She is a longtime research archivist at the Kodály Institute.

We in the IKS are especially grateful for how efficiently and effectively Dr. Polyák has chaired the IKS Election Committee through the past two cycles. In this most recent election of 2023, Dr. Hilda Mercedes Morán Quiroz (University of Guadalajara, Mexico) was elected as a member of the IKS Board of Directors, and Dr. Jerry L. Jaccard was elected to a second term as president. We also acknowledge with gratitude the four-year service as a Director of Dr. Anikó Fehér who did not stand for re-election at this time.

We are also pleased to announce the renewed affiliation of the Hungarian Kodály Society with the International Kodály Society resulting from a 2022 exploratory meeting between IKS President Dr. Jerry L. Jaccard, IKS Executive Secretary Krisztina Molnár-Litvai, and then newly elected HKS President Dr. Bence Vas. The three leaders successfully guided the process of reunification through board meetings and general assemblies of both societies to begin a new era of mutual support, cooperation, and combined effort. Professor Vas grew up in the Hungarian music education system and is now a classical guitarist, recording artist, and doctoral-level professor at the University of Pécs in Hungary. We very much look forward to working with him on the 2025 symposium.

The 2023 50th Anniversary IKS Symposium in Los Angeles was so well and enthusiastically attended that we invite all IKS members to plan to attend the 2025 symposium in Hungary. It will be another 50th anniversary to celebrate the actual chartering of the International Kodály Society in 1975. It promises to be an exceptional and historic gathering of all who align or wish to align with Kodály’s principles and practices of musical development anywhere in the world. Be sure to look for more details to begin appearing in the second half of 2024 on the IKS website: www.iks.hu

Dr. Jerry L. Jaccard
President