Washington, D.C. – On May 29, 2014, the Hungarian American Coalition (Coalition) hosts its tenth annual Gala Dinner at the House of Sweden in Washington, D.C. At this year’s Gala, the Coalition celebrates the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the proclamation of Hungary as a free, democratic republic.
On this occasion, the Coalition’s Board will recognize two remarkable persons who contributed to Hungary’s freedom and promoted the human rights of Hungarian minorities: the late Congressman Tom Lantos and Bishop László Tőkés, Member of the European Parliament.
Bishop Tőkés, whose principled resistance to the terror tactics of Communist agents sparked the Romanian Revolution in 1989, played a pivotal role in toppling the Ceausescu dictatorship. The Coalition will also honor Tom Lantos posthumously, for his legacy of promoting global human rights – an achievement unmatched by any other Hungarian American.
The Coalition will also honor the Hungarian Communion of Friends, a Hungarian-American organization which promotes and supports non-denominational religious life in the Hungarian tradition, and charitable work by and among people of Hungarian extraction. Since 1967, HCF has organized an annual conference at Lake Hope State Park in Ohio. The HCF conferences, whose invitees included pro-democracy activists invited from then-Communist Hungary, encouraged Hungary’s transformation to a free and democratic country.
Prior to the Gala Dinner, world famous soprano Andrea Rost will perform a full solo concert at the Warner Theatre on May 29 at 5:30 PM. The program includes arias from well-known operas (including Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Mozart’s The Magic Flute) as well as Hungarian folk songs. She will be accompanied by Hungarian-Canadian pianist Gergely Szokolay, who will also present solo works by Bartók, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and R. Strauss.
Tickets to the concert are available at ticketmaster.com