Roby Lakatos

Every Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Chez Georges welcomes the Alex Swing Events collective, which offers a varied and quality program, following a repertoire of swing / gypsy jazz, the music of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, and gypsy music.

Chez Georges is a very pleasant wine bar on rue des canettes, with a magnificent vaulted cellar in the basement, transformed on Tuesday into a gypsy jazz club!

ROBY Lakatos is an internationally acclaimed Hungarian violin virtuoso who is a direct descendant of the legendary composer and verbunk master János Bihari, one of the virtuosos of Hungarian Romanticism. ROBY Lakatos' violin playing, thanks to his epoch-making talent and the professional support of Yehudi Menuhin, has been heard in concerts from Carnegie Hall to the Vatican to London's Albert Hall. Countries around the world have honoured his musical greatness with prestigious awards and other accolades. Among other honours, ROBY Lakatos was made honorary citizen of Mexico, and in 2021 he received the Spanish Ministry of Culture's prestigious Music Prize in Madrid, which is awarded to the work of musical talents such as Alfred Brendel, Shlomo Mintz, Michael Nyman and Krzysztof Penderecki.
The Maestro's local patriotism and commitment to Hungarian culture is shown by the fact that after thirty-four years in Brussels, he moved back home without giving up his international musical career. Following his return to Hungary, he has implemented a number of initiatives in Hungary that have made a significant contribution to the cultivation of Hungarian culture, the promotion of its international roots and the support of the musical careers of the rising generations of musicians.
His unique musical talent was already revealed in his childhood: at the age of six he performed with the artist's violin at the Pista Dankó memorial concert, and at the age of eleven he played in Sándor Járóka's orchestra. In 1984, he took his first step towards an international music career when he signed his first contract with his first band in Belgium.
The Virtuoso's international renown is primarily due to the fact that his violin playing, in addition to a high level of musical precision, is expressed in a unique sound and style that is instantly recognisable to anyone, not "only" in Hungary, but anywhere in the world.

The international music society owes the birth and international spread of the "unorthodox gypsy fusion" style of music to the unique musical creativity of ROBY Lakatos, whose musical novelty is that the Maestro has renewed Hungarian gypsy music by fusing it with classical, Balkan and Orthodox Jewish music, as well as jazz.

The success of ROBY Lakatos is unbroken, and his music regularly helps to promote Hungarian culture internationally. It is a testament to the Maestro's human qualities that he identifies himself as a Hungarian violinist at his major concerts, wherever he is in the world.