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Lajos Balogh Honored as a Local Hero
Excerpt from an article in The Lake Oswego Review, November 28, 2009.
Lajos Balogh and Amy Carlton come from different ends of the age spectrum.
Balogh has been making music at Marylhurst University for more than four decades. Carlton began her career as a philanthropist at an extremely young age.
But both have been recognized as "Local Heroes" for 2009, which is sponsored by the Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.
Both Balogh and Carlton were given $5,000, which they will give to the nonprofit organization of their choice.
Balogh was nominated for the honor by Judi Johansen, president of Marylhurst University, who called him "a true hero of the arts in our community."
An immigrant from Hungary, Balogh joined the music faculty of Marylhurst University in 1966 and began conducting the Marylhurst Symphony.
But conducting one symphony orchestra was not enough for Balogh. He founded the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in 1974, building a musical enterprise that now features 500 musicians in 11 different orchestras, bands and ensembles.
In 1981 Balogh celebrated his U.S. citizenship by founding the Portland Festival Symphony, which offers free classical music concerts by Portland’s finest musicians every summer.
"He is a tireless advocate for music in our community," Johansen said, "raising funds to support orchestras, promoting concerts, giving musicians outlets to share their talents with citizens who have embraced his love of music as their own."