What happens when Budapest and New York meet in a Manhattan loft? On December 3–4, ALTALENA New Music Days brings together Hungarian and American composers and performers for two days of concerts and conversations exploring the intersections of new music, science, and spirituality in an intimate, informal setting.

The festival aims to revive New York’s Downtown loft culture of the 1960s and ’70s, when artist-run spaces brought composers, performers, and audiences together under one roof. Each day is titled ESTE, the Hungarian word for “evening,” evoking the legacies of Béla Bartók and György Ligeti and the rich tradition of Hungarian new music.