Symbiosis 5
About The Artist
The Budapest-based Symbiosis 5 plays instrumental jazz. The members of the quintet met within the walls of the Liszt Ferenc University of Music and the Béla Bartók Conservatory, and all of them are active members of the Hungarian jazz scene. The band was formed in 2020, so they used the lockdown period to invest their creative energies in more and more pieces of songs with the aim to unleash the expressive power of the instrumental jazz music and to present it to the music listeners. Their music is heavily imbued with modal jazz, but due to the young age and diverse interests of the quintet members, they also employ many other stylistic elements. Their repertoire consists of their own compositions, mostly written by the drummer Roland Majsai and pianist Levente Kapolcsi-Szabó.
Levente Kapolcsi-Szabó – Piano
After finishing the Bartók Béla Conservatoire he is a graduating student of the Liszt Ferenc Musical Academy of Budapest as jazz pianist. One of his main project is Symbiosis 5 group, but he is also a member of the Szarka Tamás Group and piano teacher of the Járdányi Pál Elementary Musical School and the ImPulzus Foundation School.
Máté Drippey – Saxophone
He started his musical study with flute, then learnt oboe and finally the saxophone found him, so he graduated as jazz saxophonist of the Liszt Ferenc Musical Academy of Budapest in 2018. Symbiosis 5 has been his permanent group since 2020 but in parallel he works as a session musician of several groups e.g. Paprico Funky – with this band he had the opportunity to perform on the Copenhagen Jazz Festival.
Benedek Virág – Guitar
After finishing the Bartók Béla Conservatoire he is a graduating student of the Liszt Ferenc Musical Academy of Budapest as jazz guitarist. With the Blumen Therapie band he was the second best of the II. Szentendre Musical Competition and also the Belváros Jazz Contest and IV. National Jazz Contest Hungary in 2019. His permanent jazz bands established within the walls of the Liszt Academy – Symbiosis 5 and Roland Majsai Standard Trio – are the regular performers of the Budapest Jazz Club, Opus Jazz Club, iF Café Jazz Club, MÜPA Budapest. He was nominated for the Joung Jazz Musician of the Year in 2020. He is a guitar teacher of the Weöres Sandor Elementary School in Gyömrő Hungary.
Tamás Gyányi – Bass
He plays in several musical groups like Wind+ (established with the members of the Hungarian State Opera), Sequence Quartet, Symbiosis 5 and Vígszínház Orchestra Budapest. For two years he played in the Symphonic Orchestra of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, with this group he performed on France FIMU Fest. In 2018 he was given with the Scholarship Prize of the National Young Talents. His first album was „The First Journey” by Sequence Quartet in 2019 published by NarRator Records. As the only Hungarian musician he was selected to contribute to the Cremm program’s international musical group – performing in Hungary and Morocco. He was the second best of the „Aladár Pege Bass Contest Hungary” in 2021.
Roland Majsai – Drums
He started the drums when he was 11 years old as a student of the Tóth Aladár Musical School in Budapest. After finishing the Bartók Béla Conservatoire he is a graduating student of the Liszt Ferenc Musical Academy of Budapest as a jazz drummer. His permanent jazz bands established within the walls of the Liszt Academy – Symbiosis 5 and Roland Majsai Standard Trio – are the regular performers of the Budapest Jazz Club, Opus Jazz Club, iF Café Jazz Club, MÜPA Budapest, but he also contributes to several musical groups as a session musician and acts as drum teacher of the Herceghalom Elementary and Art School. He was the Public Award winner of the Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 2022. With his instrumental knowledge as well as composer works he has the strong intention to add maximum support to the band’s success.
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