[Dixielandjazz] Bohém Festival, Bohém anniversary

Tue Jan 5 07:06:29 PST 2010

Dear OKOM friends,

The letter below has been sent out to our email-list. I hope, you don't
mind if I also post it on the DJML, unchanged. Caution, it is a long
post!

Happy New Year to everyone,

Tamás from snowy Hungary

PS.: By the way, have I told you that in October I became Doctor of
Music as I successfully surpassed my doctorate concert (classical
violin, of course) and defended my dissertation (the thesis was about
German baroque solo violin literature)? Not to be proud, just to let you
know.

----------------------
Dear Ragtime and Jazz Friends,

It has been 9 months since we sent you our last E-mail about our Bohém
activities. Lots of things have happened since, we have both really bad
and good news. Please, read on.

1. Bogi's accident: Bogi, the wonderful young lady (not even 30), who
has been the guide of our festival visitors for the past few years, had
a major accident in October. When returning home from teaching, she lost
control over her car, left the road, rolled over a few times and finally
hit a tree. It was a miracle itself that she survived but one of her
vertebrae broke (she was operated right away) and now she doesn't feel
her lower body at all. She left the hospital after two weeks but she is
still in a medical centre recovering. It is very likely that she has to
remain in wheelchair for the rest of her life but she and her doctors
constantly keep trying to get her legs work. "Officially" her spinal
marrow is still under shock, doctors said. You can send get-well
messages to Bogi by E-mail at bogi at bohemragtime.com

Good news that Bogi is happy and smiling as ever and she decided to
continue working for our festival and will be the guide for those who
decide to come to the Bohém Festival in Hungary - again or for the first
time. Bogi will need the help of her boyfriend but she will be able to
act fully as a guide and travel all around with you. You only have to
take advantage of our 6-day package and come to Hungary between March
25-30. See details below.

2. Bohém Festival 6-day package: there has been a three-month delay in
publishing our regular package because of Bogi's accident. But now alas,
we are ready, in the last minute. For those who would be interested in
coming to our 19th Bohém Festival, we put together a 6-day package that
also includes a little tour in Hungary after the Festival. The tour will
be guided by Bogi (you'll help her, too, if you come). Package price
starts at 869 USD / 629 EUR / 539 GBP. If you ant to stay for a few
additional days (either in Budapest or elsewhere), of course, you can 

Download information about the 6-day package here:
http://festival.bohemragtime.com/images/fest10-touristinfo.pdf

For our friends in the UK, Judy Eames acts as contact person, so you can
talk to her, too, if you rather speak to someone who masters English as
her native tongue. It might be even more convenient to sort out the
money sending procedure with Judy if you fear of sending money over the
net or via bank when ordering the 6-day package.

Easiest way to order your 6-day package is to download the Ordering form
in Word document, fill it in and send it back to us by E-mail. Download
the ordering form here:
http://festival.bohemragtime.com/images/fest10-orderingform.doc

Those who pay for the 6-day package before January 20, 2010, will get a
complimentary package of a DVD and a Festival T-shirt upon arrival.

For those who can't make it for 6 days but don't want to miss the 19th
International Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival, we offer "weekend only"
festival packages (including festival pass and hotel accommodation)
starting at 189 USD / 136 EUR / 119 GBP.

For more information about the Bohém Festival weekend packages click
here:
http://festival.bohemragtime.com/fest10-en.html

By the way, in 2010 we have The Year of Quartets at the Bohém Festival
and offer you a wide selection of jazz quartets from Ragtime and
"Hillbilly-jazz" to Manouche Jazz and Swing. Line-up includes: Washboard
Wizardz (USA), Nicolas Montier (F) - ts, Thilo Wagner (D) - p, Jennifer
Leitham (USA) - sb, Vince Bartels (USA) - dr, Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band
(H), PapaJazz (H) Swing Manouche Project (H), Balázs Dániel (H) Iván
Nagy (H) Penge Benge Jazz Band (H)

3. Bohém Festival on YouTube: we have uploaded 12 videos of last year's
festival. As you might remember, line-up included Bria Skonberg, Herbert
Christ, Russ Phillips, Attila Korb, Craig Flory, Matthias Seuffert,
Paolo Alderighi, Morten Gunnar Larsen, Stuart Zank, Tamás Bényei, Ad van
Beerendonk, János Mazura, Jeff Hamilton, Nick Ward and others. For the
2009 Bohém Festival playlist click here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4B5A1013A1BF2852

4. Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band 25th anniversary! Believe it or not, our band
celebrates its 25th birthday in 2010. It has been a long time and yet
way too short. We played a lot in 2009 but will play much more in 2010.
The list of our concerts are uploaded on our website and there is more
to come. We will release a box edition of all of our recordings and will
hold our big gala concert in Hungary's premier concert hall in the
Palace of Arts in Budapest on Oct 24, 2010. We will let you know details
of our anniversary activities later this year.

For more information about our festival and the band, please, visit our
website at
www.bohemragtime.com

Sincerely,
Tamás Ittzés
Festival director

_________________________________________________

Tamas ITTZES
violin teacher, ragtime pianist, festival organizer
Bohem Ragtime Jazz Band
Kecskemet Jazz Foundation
Mailing address: H-6001 KECSKEMET, Pf. 652., Hungary
Phone: +36(20)82-447-82
E-mails: tamas at bohemragtime.com, bohem at fibermail.hu
Web site: http://www.bohemragtime.com 