AUGUST 15-17, 2019 | SIBIU, ROMANIA

Classics for Pleasure
Artisti 2019 

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The soloists Gabriela Daha, Daniela Bucșan, George Ionuț Vîrban, Florin Budnaru, Marius Mitrofan și Valentino Tiron will be accompanied by the orchestra of the „Ion Dacian” National Operetta and Musical Theatre, under the musical guidance of conductor Alexandru Ilie and the video conception of Phd. Arh. Cătălin Ionescu Arbore
With a tradition which dates back to 1950, the „Ion Dacian” National Operetta and Musical Theatre is a public show and concert institution of national importance which functions under the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, The activity of the theatre consists in the creation and presentation of artistic musical and operetta productions,

In 2017 the „Ion Dacian” National Operetta and Musical Theatre is reopened gaining back its juridical personality (after it had been united with the Romanian Opera in 2013 -2016). In the same year, in November, the first edition of the “Ion Dacian” Festival takes place – an event which has become a registered trademark and takes place annually.
The current Manager – General Director, Bianca Ionescu-Ballo aims to attract new categories of public (especially young audiences) and to contour a new image for the Theatre which combines its rich tradition with future projects, aimed at transforming it in an important cultural center of the Capital.

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Alexandru Ilie is at the present the conductor of the „Ion Dacian” National Operetta and Musical Theatre and the Children’s Comic Opera in Bucharest. He graduated from the National University of Music in Bucharest in 2011, at the class of amestro Petru Andriesei and pursued his studies with a Master’s Degree at the same university, the Conducting Stylistics department under Horia Andreescu. Alexandru Ilie has participated in numerous masterclasses with distinguished figures such as Enrique Garcia Asensio, Christian Badea, Jin Wang, Mark Stringer, David Crescenzi, Christian Ehwald and Sigmund Thorp.
Over the years, Alexandru Ilie has won numerous prizes, the more recent ones in 2018 when he won the Ionel Perlea National Conducting Competition, the 5th place in the first edition of the BMI International Conducting Competition and 3rd place in the prestigious International Conducting Competition Jeunesses Musicales. Abroad, in 2016 he was a semi-finalists in the “Felix Mendelssohn” International Conducting Competition where he received 5th place from a total of 240 participants.
Alexandru Ilie has interned at the Romanian Radio Netwrok, the National Theatre in Bucharest and the National Opera in Bucharest. Among the orchestras he has collaborated with we will recall Brasov Opera Orchestra, Romanian Opera Orchestra in Craiova, Moldova’s National Youth Orchestra, Romanian Youth Orchestra and he has participated during the seasons of the Philharmonics from Timisoara, Cluj, Ploiesti, Pitesti, Ramnicu Valcea, Targoviste and Craiova.

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Brothers Georgeta, Ionuţ and Stan Zamfirescu are unanimously recognized as the best guitarists in Romania; they have won first prize in all national competitions and are successful at a European level. The three members of the trio have sustained concerts in countries such as Hungary, Spain, Serbia, Germany, Italy, Greece, Israel and Malaysia and they always returned crowned with the accolades of the specialized press.
The artists aim to bring new life in Romanian music with a diverse repertoire which mixes the Nuevo flamenco style with the elegance of classical music, presented with a technique which is easily observed as being impeccable. The idea which lays at the basis of their musical selection has appeared from the ambition to touch through the quality of their expression a public which is as diverse as possible, their programme being easily adapted to both concerts and theme parties. Trio Zamfirescu was born from a desire to interpret and transmit the passion feelings which one can find in flamenco by presenting a large palette of expressions from meditative states to the intensity of virtuoso chapters.
In addition to their solo activity, the 3 brothers are also renowned professors and they are invited to sustain concerts and masterclasses for exceptional national and international festivals (”Guitar Art Festival” Belgrade-Serbia 2010, The International Guitar Festival in Sinaia – Romania 2004-2010, ”MIGFEST-1st Malaysian Guitar Festival 2007” Kuala Lumpur- Malaezia, ”Nicolo Paganini Festival” Parma – Italia” 2006, “International guitar festival in Tychy“– Polonia 2005, “The Inauguration of the Madrid Romanian Cultural Institute” – Spania 2010, “Felicia Bluemental Music Festival” in Tel Aviv – Israel 2011).

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Russian conductor Anton Shaburov is the winner of the First International Felix Mendelssohn conducting competition (Thessaloniki, Greece, 2016 – First prize) and of the Third All-Russian Ilya Musin conducting competition (Kostroma, Russia, 2013 – Grand prix and special audience award).

Since 2017 Anton Shaburov has been the principal conductor and artistic director of the Far Eastern State Symphony Orchestra (Khabarovsk, Russia).

As a guest conductor Anton Shaburov led opera performances at the Primorsky stage of the Mariinsky theatre (Vladivostok, Russia) and concert programs with the MAV symphony orchestra (Budapest, Hungary), the Ural philharmonic orchestra (Yekaterinburg, Russia), the Plovdiv philharmonic orchestra (Bulgaria), the Magna Grecia symphony orchestra (Taranto, Italy), the Southern Arizona symphony orchestra (Tucson, USA), the Philharmonic orchestras of Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Kislovodsk and many others. Since 2015 Anton Shaburov has been a permanent guest conductor of the Omsk chamber orchestra.

Anton Shaburov received his musical education in two major Russian conservatories. He graduated from the Ural Mussorgsky and the Moscow Tchaikovsky (conservatories studying conducting with the legendary professor Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

His professional conducting career started at 2009 when Anton Shaburov became a Permanent Guest Conductor of the Globalis International Symphony Orchestra in Moscow and a principal conductor and artistic director of the Ural State Mussorgsky Conservatory symphony orchestra in Yekaterinburg. During his activity as a principal conductor Anton Shaburov led more than 40 concert programs and several festivals dedicated to Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Shchedrin, Zolotaryov.

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The Philarmonia Elite Orchestra is a private orchestra, made up of the best instrument players in Romania. Founded in 2017, it has already started to impose itself at the national level through its high artistic quality.

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Rebekka Hartmann was born in Munich in 1981. At the age of 5 she started playing the violin with the Suzuki-pedagogue Helge Thelen. She studied in Munich with Prof. Andreas Reiner and in Los Angeles with Prof. Alice Schoenfeld. After attending international master classes with Rainer Kussmaul and Josef Kröner she and developed her skills.

Rebekka Hartmann is the winner of several national and international awards, for example the International Henri Marteau Violin Competition in Lichtenberg (2005), the international music contest „Pacem in Terris“, Bayreuth (2004) and the „Jascha Heifetz Scholarship“, USA (2002).

Her international concert activities brought her together with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Salvador Mas Conde, Esa Pekka Salonen, Jukka Pekka Saraste and Enoch zu Guttenberg.

Her solo performances take place in diverse countries and continents such as Switzerland, Great Britain, Austria, Asia and the US. She also plays at renowned festivals like the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Weilburger Schlosskonzerte.

The violinist enchants her audience and musical publications with her performances with famous orchestras like the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Aachen Symphony Orchestra, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn and the German Chamber Orchestra. She is often seen in collaboration with the Orchestra of the Klangverwaltung/Munich and performs Solo- and Duo-recitals.
Her repertoire comprises the complete spectrum of violin literature from early Baroque to contemporary music and new compositions. Rebekka Hartmann performs on an Antonio Stradivarius violin from 1675.

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Junping Qian is currently studying orchestra conducting at the Musik Hochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin. In 2012 he won the Delun Li China National Conducting Competition. He graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2013 and the Middle School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory in 2009.
He has studied conducting with Mark Gibson at the University of Cincinnati and with Michael Jinboat at the Pierre Monteux Conducting School in Maine. He was a private student of the legendary pedagogue Otto Werner Mueller. The British Conductor Daniel Harding has been his mentor since 2014.
He made his debut with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in 2009 with Dvorak’s symphony no.9. He made his European conducting debut at the Verbier Festival in the summer of 2012.
He is an achieved violist, and has received numerous prizes and scholarships, such as the 2nd prize in the 2006 Washington Johansen International Competition, 1st prize in the 2007 China National Viola Competition, etc. As a violist he has performed all over the world in the most prestigious concert halls. In the summer of 2016, he quit his tutti position in the Swedish Radio Symphony in Stockholm.
Since moving to Europe in 2015, he has conducted orchestras such as Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt (oder), die Neubrandengurger Philharmonie, Berlin Sinfonietta, St.Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic. In 2017, he became the resident conductor of the Berlin Diplomatic Choir.

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In the context of the existence of a significant number of musicians and a music conservator, as well as a long tradition in the field of symphonic and opera performance, on 1 January 1949 the State Philharmonic of Sibiu, a professional institution of performances and concerts, Over 50 years of existence as a state institution presented thousands of symphonic concerts and opera music, assimilating a vast symphonic and lyrical repertoire. Numerous chronicles from Romanian and foreign newspapers and magazines have praised the musical level of Sibiu’s orchestra concerts, also mirroring the quality of radio and television recordings for disc and CD. Also, a large number of tournaments have been performed with great success both in the country and abroad – in France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, Russia etc.
Together with the Sibiu Orchestra, famous Romanian and foreign artists have concerts, including Ion Voicu, Valentin Gheorghiu, Stefan Ruha (Romania), Monique de la Bruchollerie and Jean Jaques Thiollier (France), Sviatoslav Richter, Rudolf Kerer, Lazar Berman , Dimitri Baskirov (Russia), Ivry Gittlis (Switzerland), Monserrat Caballe (Spain), along with many others.

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Aura Twarowska has dedicated her life to music since she was 6 years old when she began studying piano, canto and mandolin in Lugoj. She graduated from the Music Faculty of the Vest Timisoara University and the National University of Music in Bucharest’s Master’s Degree. Since 29 April 2010 she has a PhD in Music, title obtained at the National University of Music in Bucharest.
Aura Twarowska made her debut on the stage of the Timisoara Opera House with the main role in Carmen by G. Bizet in 1998. Her artistic career is enriched with many opera roles and vocal-symphonic pieces which make her voice known and appreciated on most of the opera scenes and philharmonic halls in Romania. Her international collaborations and tours allow her to work with European theatres and in 2007 she is hired as a solist by the State Opera in Vienna. Here she makes her debut as Marcellina from Le Nozze di Figaro in Shanghai, in the opera’s Asian tour in 2007, under the baton of conductor Seiji Ozawa. Up until this moment she has sung in about 400 shows.
She has been decorated by the Romanian President with the Order for Cultural Merit, Knight of Arts (Officer_. Since 2017 she has been an Honorary Citizen of the Lugoj Municiple and since 2018 she is a corresponding member of the Romanian- American Academy of Arts and Science. She is the Artistic Director of the International Canto Competitions „Sabin V. Dragoi”, Timișoara and „Tiberiu Brediceanu”, Lugoj, Founder and Director of the Classic Lugoj Festival.

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At just 25 years, the soprano Paula Iancic is remarkable due to her rich activity in the scenes both in Romania and abroad. On the stages of the National Operahouses in Cluj-Napoca, Iași an Timișoara, she made her debut in roles such as Lauretta (from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini), Liu (from the opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini), Micaela (from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet), Susanna (from the opera Le nozze di Figaro by W.A. Mozart), Musetta and Mimi (from the opera Boema by Giacomo Puccini) and Violetta Valery (from the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi).
In 2016 – 2018, Paula Iancic joined for 2 years the opera studio at Bayerische Staatsoper München, thus working for the most prestigious opera houses in the world. This accomplishment has brought new opportunities and debuts such as Barbarina (from the opera Le nozze di Figaro by W.A. Mozart), Gretel (from the opera Hänsel und Gretel by E. Humperdinck), Giannetta (din opera L’elisir d’amore de G. Donizetti), Blumenmädchen (din opera Parsifal de R. Wagner) and Oscar (from the opera Un ballo in maschera by G. Verdi).
Recently, the young soprano has graduated from the “Gheorghe Dima” Academy of Music in Cluj Napoca, and she has won the Grand Prize “King Michael I” in the 3rd edition of the prestigious L’Assoluta Virginia Zeani Royal Voice Competition.

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He graduated from the Theology Faculty in Constanța and the National University of Music in Bucharest, where he obtained his Master’s Degree. Mihai Urzicana has studied classic canto with Gabriela Popescu, maestro Corneliu Fânățeanu and university professor Phd Bianca Manoleanu.
Mihai Urzicana is the winner of the 1st Prize at the National Musical Interpretation Competition Mihail Jora 2017, of the 1st Prize at the National Opera Start Competition in 2017, of the 3rd Prize and the Special Prize of the State Philharmonic in Sibiu at the International Vox Artis Competition in Sibiu 2017 and the 2nd and Public Special Prize at the L’assoluta Virginia Zeani Gran Prix of Romania 2018.
Mihai Urzicana has participated in masterclasses with Marcin Habela (Switzerland), Lucas Meachem (S.U.A.), George Emil Crăsnaru, Horiana Brănisteanu (Salzburg), Ira Siff, Lucy Arner, Liora Maurer (Metropolitan Opera New York), Hans Pieter Hermann (Dutch National Opera), Sharon Mohar (Les Maitres Sonneurs), Marius Vlad Budoiu, David Crescenzi
Mihai Urzicana has collaborated as a soloist with the Philharmonics “Oltenia” Craiova, ”Mihail Jora” Bacău, ”Paul Constantinescu” Ploiesti, ”Serghei Lunchevici” Chisinău, Sibiu State Philharmonic, Tg. Mureș State Philharmonic, Royal Camerata Orchestra Orchestra under the batons of distinguished conductors such as Gian Luigi Zampieri, Alexandru Iosub, Ovidiu Bălan, Adrian Petrescu, Radu Postăvaru, Cristian Sandu, Constantin Grigore, Vlad Vizireanu, Marijn Simons (Holland), Juan Cantarell (Spain).