A symbiosis of related arts: a unity of effects, dynamic diversity and a variety of genres - this is the Honvéd Art Ensemble itself.

The company is a complex of various sections:
choir (Honvéd Male Choir), two different kinds of dance ensembles (Honvéd Dance Company, Budapest Dance Ensemble). Three chamber orchestras (gipsy orchestra, Hegedős Ensemble, Budapest Ensemble) and the department of solo singers and actors make up the Honvéd Art Ensemble. (The name of the ensemble - „Honvéd” meaning „defender of the homeland” in Hungarian - comes from Ministry of Defence that founded the company in 1948 with the intention to set up the representative cultural institution of the Hungarian Armed Forces.)

In recent year new „allies” have joined this particular symbiosis: the internationally recognised Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok, the Auris Opera Company and the Budapest Academic Choral Society.

This widespread network of relationships created a formation that compares to the volume of an opera house with the close co-operation of musicians, dancers and singers.

But the capacity of this symbiosis reaches far beyond that: the various sections do not only perform together, each has its own repertoire and they all work according to their special programme schedule.

The Art Ensemble is also distinguished from traditional opera houses by the fact that it has never had its own theatre or concert hall.

The company managed to turn this disadvantage into an advantage and the separate sections have become extremely flexible while travelling the world and the principles of their programme policy allow them a great deal of freedom.

The technical personnel that accompany the various sections have accumulated an enormous amount of experience working among the most diverse local circumstances at all stages.

The Honvéd Art Ensemble and its „allies” - the Dohnányi Orchestra, the opera company and the mixed choir - are unique because of the co-existence of the related branches of arts they represent.

They form a very special community of artists in Hungary. The unrivalled richness of the genres they perform, the high artistic quality and extraordinary power of their joint projects offer entertainment of a grandiose volume to their public both in Hungary and abroad.