István Almási, the foremost authority on Transylvanian Hungarian folk music research, is a descendant of an old Transylvanian Reformed pastor. His great-grandfather was Sámuel Almási, a renowned song collector of the 19th century, whose name is known from János Erdélyi's publication Népdalok és sagák (1846-1848) and from the seven volumes of István Bartalus' universal collection of Hungarian folk songs (1873-1896).
State award granted in recognition of outstanding musicological, music criticism, and music education activities.
