The spirit of generosity through music will travel to six cities across the country as part of this year’s edition of the George Enescu International Festival. Concerts and recitals from the festival’s program taking place in Bucharest will delight audiences in Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, Sibiu, Bacau, and Lugoj, providing them with the opportunity to listen to musicians from some of the most prestigious symphony and chamber orchestras from around the world.
Five extraordinary concerts and recitals from the program of the George Enescu International Festival will make their way to Cluj-Napoca. The first concert will take place on Thursday, August 31, in the Auditorium Maximum Hall of the Academic College building of Babeș-Bolyai University, starting at 7:00 PM. The stage will be graced by the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra from Cluj-Napoca, conducted by Jonathon Heyward, and pianist Andrei Gologan. The program consists of works by Doina Rotaru, Benjamin Britten, and Dmitri Shostakovich, and the concert is part of the Festival’s Romanian Orchestras Series. The second event will be held on Sunday, September 3, starting at 7:00 PM, in the Concert Studio of the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music. Two winners of the 2022 George Enescu International Competition, Maria Marica (violin) and Alexandra Segal (piano), will present a romantic recital featuring works by Clara and Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The third event of the George Enescu International Festival in Cluj-Napoca will take place on Friday, September 8, at 7:00 PM, in the Concert Studio of the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music. Benjamin Kruithof, winner of the 2022 George Enescu International Competition in the cello section, will perform a recital alongside Romanian pianist Daria Ioana Tudor, presenting works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, and Franz Schubert. On Saturday, September 9, at 7:00 PM, in the Concert Studio of the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music, the audience will have the opportunity to meet one of the world’s most renowned mandolin players, Avi Avital from Israel, who will be accompanied by pianist Omar Klein. The two have prepared a program featuring their own compositions, works by Johann Sebastian Bach, and moments of improvisation. The concert that concludes the series of events in Cluj-Napoca will take place on September 10, 2023, at 7:00 PM, featuring French violinist David Grimal, who will present solo works from the international violin repertoire. The four concerts at the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music are organized by the Play Association.
The audience in Iasi will have the opportunity to attend one of the concerts from the George Enescu International Festival’s Romanian Orchestras Series. On Friday, September 15, starting at 7:00 PM, at the Students’ Culture House in Iasi, the Moldova Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the baton of South Korean conductor Hankyeol Yoon, recently awarded the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award. The orchestra will be accompanied by pianist Florian Mitrea as the soloist. The program will include works by composers Viorel Munteanu (Symphony No. 2), Sergei Prokofiev (Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10), Isidora Žebeljan (Hum away, strings), and Béla Bartók (Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin).
The George Enescu International Festival is also coming to Bacau, at the Mihai Jora Philharmonic, on Friday, September 22, starting at 6:30 PM. The audience will have the opportunity to listen to one of the concerts presented in the Festival as part of the Romanian Orchestras Series, performed by the Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra will be conducted by Alan Buribayev, and the soloist will be cellist Stefan Cazacu, a laureate of the 17th George Enescu International Competition. The program will include the work “Centennial Sound Light” by Ulpiu Vlad, Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra Sz. 116, and the Romanian premiere of the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.
One of the concerts from the Family Concerts Series is also coming to Lugoj, on Thursday, September 7, starting at 7:00 PM, on the stage of the Traian Grozavescu Municipal Theatre. “Pinocchio… with ‘strings’ attached” will be the concert performed by the Romanian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gabriel Bebeselea, with musicologist Cristina Bohaciu Sarbu presenting, narrated by Ioana Marcoi. The musicians on stage will bring to life the first part of the famous work “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, followed by the Romanian Folk Dances by Béla Bartók, in an arrangement for clarinet and string orchestra by Alin Chelarescu. The soloist will be the youngest member of the Romanian Youth Orchestra, clarinetist Petru Pane. The third work in the program will be “Pinocchio’s Adventures in Funland” by Michael Gandolfi. The concert is organized by the Musical Scene Association.
Four concerts will bring the spirit of the George Enescu International Festival to Sibiu, on the stage of the Thalia Hall at the Sibiu State Philharmonic. The first takes place on Saturday, September 9, starting at 7:00 PM, when the musicians of the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, alongside pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, will perform George Enescu’s String Octet in C major, Op. 7, “Ramifications” by György Ligeti, and Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in E major. The second event will be held in Sibiu on Sunday, September 10, at 7:00 PM, a recital where Avi Avital (mandolin) and Omar Klein (piano) will perform their own compositions, works by Johann Sebastian Bach, and moments of improvisation. The next concert will be that of the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday, September 14, starting at 7:00 PM. The orchestra will be conducted by Roderick Cox, with violinist Ioana Cristina Goicea as the soloist. The program will include works by György Ligeti, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The suite of the four Sibiu concerts concludes with a performance by the renowned Camerata Salzburg orchestra, which will take the stage on Wednesday, September 20, at 7:00 PM, alongside concertmaster Gregory Ahss and soloists Janine Jansen (violin) and Timothy Ridout (viola). The program will include works by Johann Christian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Philip Glass. The concerts are organized by the Play Association and the Sibiu State Philharmonic.
Six events will convey the spirit of the George Enescu International Festival in Timisoara as well, between September 3 and September 20, at the Capitol Hall of the Banatul Philharmonic. The first event will bring the musicians of the Parisian ensemble Ensemble Intercontemporain to the audience on Sunday, September 3, starting at 7:00 PM. The concert will be conducted by Pierre Bleuse, and the program will include works by György Ligeti, Diana Rotaru, Marko Nikodijevic, and Unsuk Chin. One of the longest-standing string quartets in the world, originating from the United States, FINE ARTS QUARTET, will arrive in Timisoara on Monday, September 4, starting at 7:00 PM. The recital of this renowned ensemble will feature works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Philip Glass, and Robert Schumann. On Wednesday, September 6, at 7:00 PM, one of the concerts from the Family Concerts Series will also arrive in Timisoara: “Pinocchio… with ‘strings’ attached,” performed by the Romanian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gabriel Bebeselea. The musicians on stage will bring to life the first part of the famous work “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, followed by the Romanian Folk Dances by Béla Bartók, with clarinet soloist Petru Pane, and “Pinocchio’s Adventures in Funland” by Michael Gandolfi. Next, the musicians of the Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra in Timisoara, alongside conductor Martijn Dendievel and the Arcadia Quartet, will take the stage on Thursday, September 7, starting at 7:00 PM. The concert is part of the Romanian Orchestras Series and will feature works by Pop (Hora for Orchestra), John Adams (Absolute Jest – Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra), Mieczysław Weinberg (Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes), and Dmitri Shostakovich (Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 70). The concert of the chamber orchestra Camerata Bern will take place on Thursday, September 14, at 7:00 PM, alongside violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. This special concert, titled “Face and Death,” combines classical and modern music to create a dark yet imaginative universe. The program will include works by August Nörmiger, Franz Schubert, Carlo Gesualdo, and György Kurtág. The series of concerts in Timisoara concludes on Wednesday, September 20, at 7:00 PM, when the Manchester Camerata takes the stage, with conductor Vlad Vizireanu and saxophonist Jess Gillam as the soloist. Described by The Times as “Britain’s most adventurous orchestra,” they will perform works by Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, George Enescu, Alexander Glazunov, Max Richter, and Béla Bartók. The concerts in Timisoara are organized by the Musical Scene Association and Rotary Cetate Timisoara.
For more details about Enescu Festival across the country, visit the dedicated section on the Enescu Festival website: https://www.festivalenescu.ro/festival-2023/program-2023/
About the George Enescu International Festival:
The George Enescu International Festival is one of the most important classical music events în the world, organized since 1958. The 26th edition of the festival takes place between August 27th and September 24th, with the theme “Generosity through Music.” The festival program includes over 3,500 of the world’s most renowned artists, more than 40 orchestras from 16 countries, opera premieres, and educational concerts for children.
For more details, visit https://www.festivalenescu.ro/
Tickets are available for purchase on the Eventim platform. Direct link.
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The George Enescu International Festival is an event held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania.
Project financed by the Government of Romania through the Ministry of Culture.
Organizer: ARTEXIM
Co-organizer: ArtProduction Foundation
Co-producers: Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company, Romanian Television Society SRTV, Bucharest City Hall;
Main sponsors: Rompetrol, BRD;
Sponsors: Ferrero Rocher, SNEF, CBRE, Orange, L’Or , Mobexpert, Casa de Flori, DORNA, Liliana si Peter Ilica Foundation, La Mama; SANADOR; ALTHAUS, BIGOTTI;
With the support of: Yokko, Paradigma Film, Crowdfavorite, RPG Security, Compania Nationala Aeroporturi Bucuresti; Ministerul Antreprenoriatului si Turismului;
Legal services provider: Tuca Zbarcea si Asociatii;
Official carrier: Tarom;
Hospitality partners: Radisson Blu Hotel Bucharest & Park Inn by Radisson, Intercontinetal Athenee Palace, Novotel City Center, Mercure City Center, Ibis Styles City Center;
Visibility partners: Xiaomi Romania;
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Press contact:
Maria Ursica
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