Márta Sebestyén (born 19 August 1957, Budapest) is a Hungarian folk vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.
Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S. as a visiting professor (under a grant from the Ford Foundation), brought home a large collection of ethnic music recordings from the Smithsonian Institution.
Sebestyén was educated at Miklós Radnóti Grammar School, Budapest. She has sung regularly and recorded with the Hungarian folk group Muzsikás. She is known for adaptations of Hungarian folk songs, some of which appear in Deep Forest's Boheme album, which received the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 1996. She has also adapted Hindi, Yiddish, Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovak folk songs to traditional Hungarian style.
Sebestyén sang in the movie The English Patient (Szerelem, szerelem). Three songs recorded together with Muzsikás appeared in the Japanese animated movie Only Yesterday. She also sang in and contributed material to the album Kaddish by Towering Inferno (Richard Wolfson and Andy Saunders, 1993). She also sang Rivers' on the multiple artist album Big Blue Ball released in 2008.
On 1 June 2010, she was awarded the UNESCO Artist for Peace title.
Links To Peel
Peel seemed to discover the Hungarian singer through the WOMAD record compilation when she collaborated with Muzsikás. So impressed with her, that he invited her to do a session for his show in 1988. By the end of the 90's, Peel seemed to have lost interest in her solo career.
Sessions
1. Recorded: 1988-04-05. Broadcast: 13 April 1988. Repeated: 04 May 1988, 14 June 1988, 26 December 1988
- Csardas / The Train / Dunantuli Tancok / Szeki Tancok / Szeress Egyet
Other Shows Played
Sebestyén márta - szerelem szerelem
- 1987
- 07 September 1987: 'Vetettem Violát' (LP 'Muzsikas') Hannibal
- 1987 (Rockradio): Szeress Egyet, S Legyen Szép (Love Just One) - Muzsikas LP - Hannibal
