2024 Donor Appreciation Night - AFHLE 60th Anniversary

Saturday, November 9th 5:30-9:30pm

An evening to remember as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the American Foundation for Hungarian Literature and Education by thanking our strongest supporters and members, with art, music, theater, and a heritage celebrating culinary tasting.

Program

5:30 – 6:30pm Artist Exhibition Opening Reception

6:30pm Opening Remarks and Toast

7:00pm Hungarian Operetta (variety – 30min set), Karinthy Frigyes Play (excerpt – 15min), Gypsy Nights Ensemble (45min set)

8:30pm: Closing Remarks and Hungarian Culinary Tasting

Thomas Lendvai, Artist / Sculptor (szobrász, ács)

Brooklyn-based artist Thomas Lendvai transforms everyday construction materials into large-scale, site-responsive, sculptural experiences that highlight the intrinsic and elemental value inherent within the materials and explore the notion of self. Through his work, Lendvai melds his knowledge of carpentry, taught to him by his father at an early age, with his interest in modernist and post-modernist theory of sculpture and philosophical and scientific definitions of time and space.

Lendvai’s site-responsive installations make use of fundamental geometric forms to address concepts of space and time, and to engage audiences through experiential installations that break down the boundary between the art object and the subject and question the notions art, design, and architecture. His work encourages movement and a continuous awareness of a series of nows, allowing for audiences to experience a more tactile engagement with space and self.

Lendvai’s sculptures and site-responsive installations have been exhibited in Tokyo, Japan; Chicago, Illinois; Key West, Florida; and more recently in Hoboken, New Jersey; and Brooklyn, New York. He received his BA at SUNY Stony Brook and his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2002. Lendvai is of Hungarian descent and is a first generation American.

Melissa Katkó Pepin, Artist / Photographer

Melissa Katkó Pepin has a deep-rooted passion for both photography and printmaking, coupled with extensive experience in teaching and practicing these disciplines. Her artwork encompasses various processes and historical Hungarian practices.

“The Hungarian Motif is a central theme in my artistic practice, permeating various mediums from paintings and drawings to the intricate realms of photography and printmaking. My creative journey often begins with chance encounters with found objects, which I then reinterpret through my unique lens into forms that are delicate and adaptable to my artistic vision.”

Tünde Csonka, actor (színművész, énekes)

A former member of the Győr National Theater, but also played in the Madách Theater and the Vígszínház in Budapest. She sang in the Children's Choir of the Hungarian State Opera House and graduated from Thebe International Theater Academy in 1996. In 2004, she received the Hungarian Radio's eMeRTon award for her leading role in the musical Miss Saigon.

A versatile artist who played important operetta, musical and prose roles in Hungary, and regularly performs in American concerts, including performances of Les Miserables, West Side Story, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, Hyppolit, a lakáj, Hello Dolly!, Hair, The Verona Boys, and Somewhere in Europe.

In 2003, she founded the Nem-ÁRT! Skills development school in Budapest, which she led for 12 years. Currently she is the head of the Grace Church music library and since 2021, Tünde has been a Kindergarten teacher at Browning School. She teaches individual and small group singing/drama lessons in both schools.

Christopher Diveki is a Sophomore at Grace Church High School, he has been singing in the Grace Church choir for 7 years and was Optimus and lead soloist for two consecutive years. He is the church's music librarian with a scholarship. Christopher is preparing for a career in music and plays several instruments, including piano, guitar and drums, but his main instrument is the tenor saxophone.

Chuck Rejtő, musician

Joel Glassman, musician