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January 22, 2007 Ambassador Meets Leading Representatives of the Music and Movie Industries in California
Ambassador Simonyi visited Southern California from January 19 to 21, 2007, and met with leading representatives of the music and movie industries there. He paid a visit to the Loker Laboratory of the University of Southern California, founded and led by Professor George Oláh, Hungarian-born Nobel Prize winning chemist. His laboratory conducts research about an alternative source of energy, methanol, with exciting and promising results. Ambassador Simonyi met with some highly successful members of the Hungarian community in California, including Gábor Csupó, one of the creators of the animated sitcom The Simpsons, and Andy Vajna, Hollywood producer, maker of the movie Children of Glory on the 1956 Revolution. The Ambassador had a discussion with the directors of the award-winning 1956 documentary Freedom’s Fury, Colin K. Gray and Megan Raney Aarons, also know as The Sibs. They discussed possible future screenings of the film and its distribution in the United States.
He visited the NAMM Show, the exhibition of the music industry organized by the National Association of Music Makers from January 18 to 21, 2007 in Anaheim, California. Among the exhibitors was Fibenare Guitars Co., the first Hungarian guitar manufacturer to be a participant at the NAMM Show.
Visiting Fibenare’s stand at NAMM, Ambassador Simonyi was accompanied by Jeff „Skunk” Baxter, legendary rock guitarist, formerly with The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan; C.J. Vanston, Joe Cocker’s producer and keyboardist; and Eddie Kramer, former producer of Jimi Hendrix. On the same day, Skunk Baxter was presented the Music for Life Award by NAMM for lifelong contributions to the music products industry. Baxter and Simonyi played on Fibenare’s guitars, on which the Ambassador commented, “these instruments represent high quality and a broad musical scale.” Attila Benedek and Árpád Benedek, the founders of Fibenare, together with Ambassador Simonyi, met NAMM Chairman Dennis Houlihan. Simonyi presented the Hungarian guitars to HBO’s on-site crew and to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Ca.). He also had the opportunity to exchange views with Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation.
Fibenare’s participation at NAMM was assisted by the Ministry of Economy of the Hungarian Government. Fibenare presented its Fibenare Erotic, Fibenare Globe Bass and Fibenare Eagle guitars, all of them hand-made, at the show. Ambassador Simonyi called their participation “a remarkable breakthrough owing to the courage of the entrepreneurs behind Fibenare.”
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