Štefan Szabó

A composer, improviser, and curator from Rimavská Sobota. His artistic practice spans both improvised and folk music. He is currently active in several projects and ensembles, including Ranjevš & Óbasz, the Bratislava Improvisers Orchestra, a duo with Adela Mede, and a trio Szabó / Bodnárová / Nosál. In 2023, he released the organ album Clouds and Pulses on the Czech label MA Records, a work he is now developing into a live performance.
For the past five years, Szabó has also curated the music program at n:ear festival, and he is the co-curator of the concert series U Strún.
The Clouds and Pulses album was recorded on historical organs in a Roman Catholic church in Rimavská Sobota and in Kraskov, using an instrument built in 1810. His interest lies particularly in older organs—valued for their slightly untuned, distorted timbres and the subtle textures like “moss breathing”, which become an integral part of the composition itself. At NEXT, he will present a special set built around the possibilities and limitations of an 1878 organ in a Small Evangelical church.