It is with deep sorrow that we announce that Gitta Reich, one of the most distinguished répétiteurs, pianists, and teachers of the Hungarian Dance University, has passed away in her 71st year. The university mourns the loss of an exceptional artist and esteemed colleague, and regards her as its own departed.
Not long ago, on her 70th birthday, we were still sending her our best wishes, and we all hoped that she would recover. She truly deserved to spend her later years in peace and in love, surrounded by her family and her beloved students, after the hardships of recent years. Sadly, since Saturday we have known that this is no longer possible.
On 15 March, she was no longer able to receive in person the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (civilian division), awarded “in recognition of her work in promoting the interests of the nation and enriching universal human values,” a distinction she had more than earned.
We can no longer “rely on her humane and professional advice, her opinion, and her invaluable expertise”, as we still hoped in her September birthday greetings.
Gitta Reich, who preferred to use her name in this form, was one of the most highly regarded répétiteurs and music teachers in the 75-year history of the Hungarian Dance University.
She accompanied hundreds of ballet students in their daily classes and in the examinations that defined their careers. She supported generations of teachers on their path toward becoming musically educated and musically sensitive educators, and as a pianist and a true Wise Teacher, she had a profound influence on many of our professional lives.
We will keep in our hearts, with “unceasing gratitude,” the memory, the loving presence, and the professional legacy of Gitta Reich.
After graduating from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, she became a member of our institution’s faculty on 26 November 1979. She always proudly identified herself as a répétiteur, even though she performed some of the most demanding works of the classical repertoire on the stage of the Hungarian State Opera House during final examinations of graduating ballet students. These included movements from Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Prokofiev’s Sarcasms, the Adagio of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, and the piano part of Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Song (the latter two performed on two occasions), as well as serving as a creative partner in the premiere performance of John Cage’s In a Landscape at the Vigadó.
A titular associate professor of the Hungarian Dance University, she had previously led the piano accompaniment department and the Music and Music Theory Department on several occasions. She delivered professional development courses for our répétiteurs and taught in numerous national and international courses and foreign teacher training programs (Teramo 2006, Oslo 2012, Maribor 2017).
She worked alongside colleagues such as Jacqueline Menyhárt, Katalin Sebestyén, Edit Handel, Imre Dózsa, Mária Bretus, and Szilárd Macher in qualification examinations, and she was a devoted, refined, and musically sensitive supporter of the examinations of Adol Hamzin and Pál Csillag as well. In teacher training, she also taught the subject Ballet Music – Accompaniment Repertoire.
Awards:
Lőrinc György Prize (2002)
Golden Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2004)
Dance Art Award of the Hungarian Dance Artists Association (2019)
Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (2026)
