Jenő Ádám

Jenő Ádám (12 December 1896 15 May 1982) was a Hungarian music educator, composer, and conductor. Early life and education Jenő Ádám was born in Szigetszentmiklós (Kingdom of Hungary) on 12 December 1896. From 1911-1915 he attended the teacher-training college in Budapest where he received instruction in the organ and music theory. During World War I he was a prisoner of war (POW) in Russia from 1916-1920; His methodology has had a profound impact on music education internationally and is still studied today by students of the Kodaly Method. The Organization of American Kodály Educators has established an academic scholarship in his name

Ádám was also involved in broader music education efforts targeted toward the general population in Hungary. He gave several public lectures that were broadcast on Hungarian television and radio that aimed to popularize both Hungarian folk music and Western classical music. One of these was his own radio program, Fifteen Minutes of Folksong. He also gave lectures on television and radio programs as a guest outside of Hungary; continuing his advocacy on the international stage. While employed as the chorus master of the Hungarian State Opera he conducted the first performance by that company of Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas at the Hungarian State Opera House with Ella Némethy and Imre Palló in the title roles. It was the first time the opera was sung in the Hungarian language; although it had earlier been performed in Kecskemét in the original English. He conducted the Hungarian premiere of L'enfance du Christ by Hector Berlioz.

As a composer, he was best known for his vocal music which included operas, folk song arrangements, art songs, choral music, and works for chorus and orchestra. He was named an Artist of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic in 1955, and was awarded the Kossuth Prize in 1957.

Books A skálától a szimfóniáig (From the Scale to the Symphony, Budapest, 1943) Szó-mi (Singing Textbooks for Elementary Schools, Budapest, 1943, with Zoltán Kodály) Módszeres énektanítás a relatív szolmizáció alapján (Systematic Singing Teaching Based on the Tonic Sol-fa, Budapest, 1944; Eng. trans., 1971 as Growing in Music with Movable Do) Énekeskönyv (Singing Book, Budapest, 1947, republished in English in March 1998 as Series for elementary schools, with Zoltán Kodály).