The Budapest Tomkins Vocal Ensemble was founded in 1978. Both artistic director János Dobra and most of its members graduated from the Franz Liszt Music College. Together, they worked with a repertoire for which at the time, there was no performing tradition in Hungary. Their style of singing followed the English model (the titular Thomas Tomkins was an English Renaissance composer), but later embraced and integrated other styles. They have given concerts all around Europe, as well as in Japan and India. Besides performing Hungarian music, the Tomkins Ensemble performs a wide range of works, from the Renaissance to those by living composers. Indeed there can be few such vocal works that the Tomkins Ensemble has not sung and performed. They are also keenly interested in different types of liturgical music, for example that of Rachmaninov, which the Ensemble premiered in Hungary. Many contemporary composers have written pieces for them to sing.