Irén Lovász 

Irén Lovász, PhD is an associate professor in the Institute of Arts Studies and General Humanities at KRE University (Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem) in Budapest, Hungary. Her research includes ethnomusicology, anthropology of religion and music as well as sacred communication. She is also a well known professional singer applying traditional singing in voice therapy.

The acoustic dimension of the human voice in sacred and spiritual communication and in voice-therapy is one of her main fields of interest. She has got experience as a singer and a scholar in antropology of religion and music using human voice in acoustic sacred places, caves and churches. Experiments with the effect of pure voice in the natural acoustics of ancient caves, undercrofts, cylinder shaped rotundas, Romanesc and Gothic churches and also in Turkish thermal baths (with cupola structures) are among the greatest experiences of her life.

During the last decades she got to learn -through her experiences and research-  to what extent the human voice is able to serve as a helper in life-and-death situations or similarly in major events that shape and turn one’s fate and life. These studies inspired her to create ‘Healing Voices’, a four-part CD series including Sacred Voice, Inner Voice, Female Voice and Healing Voice. These CD’s are linked by the idea that the human voice may very well have a healing power, for this is one of the most important ancient and universal functions of singing. The recording of her Sacred Voice CD took place in the undercroft of the Saint Stephen Basilica in Budapest. The way of singing and the instrumental and vocal improvisation were inspired by the ambiance of the enchanting acoustics of the undercroft, where the recordings took place.

Irén Lovász has been involved in archaeoacoustic studies and also presented papers at the 2nd and 3rd International Archaeoacoustic Conferences in 2015 in Istanbul and in 2017 in Tomar. She would like to draw attention to medieval sacred places in Hungary and in the Carpatian basin, where unusual sound behaviour can be experienced. One of them is the Rotunda of  Bény (Slovakia), with 12 mysterious vaulted niches in it. She founded a multidisciplinary international research project for the archaeacoustic study of the Rotunda that was documented in the short film Arceoacoustic Research of the Rotunda in Bény (2019).  
 
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Links:
www.lovasziren.hu
https://btk.kre.hu/index.php/lovasz-iren