Altalena
Alexandra Balog is the artistic director and founder of the Altalena Artists Collective, an international community of musicians dedicated to artistic excellence, education, and well-being. She founded Altalena at the age of 18, while finishing high school and moving to London, driven by a desire to stay connected with the musical scene in Budapest and the inspiring artists who shaped her.
What began as a small summer camp in a Hungarian village called Bozsok has evolved into a thriving collective, organizing four weeks of summer residencies in Tuscany and Hungary and bringing musicians together for concerts throughout the year. While leading this initiative alongside her career as a pianist has been a demanding journey, Alexandra has built a strong team and a dedicated board, ensuring the collective’s continued growth.
Central to Altalena’s mission is the belief that well-being—mental, physical, and emotional—is fundamental to artistic excellence, a value deeply personal to Alexandra through her own experiences.
Committed both to her own major performances and to nurturing this vibrant community, she continues to shape Altalena as a space where musicians can flourish together.
Altalena — Nurturing the talent and wellbeing of performing artists
Altalena is an ecosystem dedicated to the high-level training and holistic well-being of musicians and performing artists. By integrating profound artistry, wellness, and neuroscience practices, we focus on helping artists develop a sustainable future as performers.
Founded in 2014 in Bozsok, Hungary, Altalena was established by Hungarian pianist Alexandra Balog and is led under her artistic direction, together with Co-Artistic Directors Mihály Berecz and Dániel Dobri, who serves as Contemporary Music Director. The festival’s educational initiatives are overseen by Head of Educational Projects Barbara Toth.
Under her leadership, Altalena has evolved into a distributed global cultural ecosystem connecting artists, educators, and audiences across countries. The organization also runs festivals and masterclass series in Tuscany, Hungary, and France.
About Summer Residencies
Summer Residencies are designed for musicians seeking high-level musical training in an environment that nurtures performers holistically.
Collaborating with acclaimed international artists and leading experts from related fields, Altalena integrates a curriculum of specialist sessions, collaborative projects, and interdisciplinary guidance from professionals in health, sports, and science.
While cultivating a community of curious minds, our focus is on empowering the next generation of performing artists with the essential tools for a sustainable and fulfilling career.
Our commitment to musical well-being:
Our program is designed to offer top-level music education while emphasizing the importance of holistic well-being as the foundation of artistic development. We believe that true excellence in performance is built on deep, focused practice, the mental and psychological readiness, and physical well-being of the artist, not merely by playing and performing repeatedly.
While we offer opportunities for performances, the goal of the festival is to give musicians the tools for deep practice and personal growth. We aim to guide you through processes that involve significant off-stage work, where the focus is on mental conditioning, physical preparation, and psychological balance.
Our course provides an environment where students engage in holistic well-being practices, including wellness seminars, yoga, sports, and tools for long-term musical development and learn about mental and physical sustainability of a musical career from working professionals.
Words of the Ambassadors
We aim to inspire the next generation of musicians by engaging them in a community that fosters artistic growth, well-being, and collaboration.
Alexandra Balog (pianist), Mihály Berecz (pianist), Ariel Lányi (pianist), Rosa Hartley (violinist), Zsolt Vencel Kovács (ballett dancer), Miklós Vecsei H. (actor)
