Calendar

New York, NY – The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York presents a free concert of new music at Merkin Concert Hall featuring young Romanian composers and musicians. Pianists Matei Varga, Bogdan Dulu, Andrei LicareÅ£, and cellist Laura Buruiană will premiere a series of works from composers of their own generation. Mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen and violinist Vlad Maistorovici, one of the featured composers, will also perform in this overview of emerging Romanian new music, taking place at Merkin Concert Hall on Tuesday, November 11 at 8 p.m. Admisssion: FREE. Reservations recommended at the box office: 212 501 3330 http://www.merkinconcerthall.org/

The works to be performed at Merkin Concert Hall include pieces for piano solo; violin and piano; cello and piano; and art songs for mezzo-soprano & piano, by nine composers, most in their twenties: Ciprian Costin, Vlad Maistorovici, Şerban Marcu, Mihai Măniceanu, Diana Rotaru, Diana Iulia Simon, Ana Szilágyi, Ioana Tiberian, Sabina Ulubeanu. All the works presented will have their American premieres at Merkin Concert Hall, with one receiving its world premiere. While virtually unknown in the U.S., these composers have well-established careers in Europe, having been awarded commissions and a wide range of prizes at national and international competitions during the past several years. The composers have lived, studied and worked in Romania, the U.K., Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland and other European countries, and their works have been performed there, as well farther afield, in such countries as Australia and Japan.

ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF THE PROJECT AND THE WORKS SELECTED:
In May 2008, 24 young Romanian-born composers, currently based in Romania and other European countries, answered a call launched by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, and submitted their works in order to be considered for this concert. Four of the participating musicians – pianists Matei Varga, Bogdan Dulu, Andrei LicareÅ£, and cellist Laura Buruiană (all of whom have studied or performed in the U.S. and are considered among the most promising young Romanian musicians) – undertook the selection process, choosing ten works by their colleagues which reflect the rich variety of Romanian compositional genres and styles. The next generation of Romanian composers utilizes a varied stylistic palette, incorporating traditional Romanian folk themes and liturgical music, innovative techniques, new takes on counterpoint, modal expression and timbre, and establishing dialogues with works of George Enescu, Olivier Messiaen, Iannis Xenakis and György Ligeti, as well as the great masters of the past.

The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York (RCINY) aims to promote Romanian culture to the public in both the U.S. and internationally, and to build sustainable connections and collaborations between American and Romanian cultural organizations. The RCINY portofolio of projects includes, among others: the first US retrospective of Romanian film organized in partnership with the Film Society at Lincoln Center, support to Romanian visual artists presented at MOMA or at the Armory show, collaborations with the PEN World Voices and an array of academic lectures and events hosted by the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. http://www.icrny.org/
http://www.merkinconcerthall.org/

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Concert Announcement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.