‘Extraordinary concert, Alexandru Tomescu & Claudia Bara’

18:30 - @Fumoir - Discover Romania with Peter Hurley
Book presentation
Based on the belief that the spirit of the peoples of Celtic origin lives on in the Romanian village and this country is the sole European one to have kept alive and unaltered the ancient, authentic civilization, Peter Hurley wants to persuade Romanians to safeguard the priceless treasure of their popular traditions.
Born in Ireland, the eighth of ten children, Peter Hurley moved to Romania in 1994, fascinated by the Romanian rural civilization. Today he is the producer of the annual festival "The long road to the Merry Cemetery", co-producer of the Spirit.ro project, first producer of the intercultural concert Roots Revival Romania and President of the Intercultural Association for Traditions.
"There is already some level of consciousness in Romania regarding the true value of this rural civilization and its role in your national identity. However, the threat of extinction is so great that I fear this consciousness will only gain general acknowledgement once it dies out. This is what happened in Western countries, Ireland included. Romania is still "different", and within this "different" lies, I think, your true role in Europe's future." Peter Hurley
"The Way of the Crosses" by Peter Hurley was published and launched by the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant. According to the author, the book is like "a liturgical journey" in search of the  Romanian spirit, seen through the eyes of an Irish man in love with Maramureş and Romania.
www.traditia.ro/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vSOB4oxMHo

18:30 - @Fumoir - "Made in Maramureş"
Romanian traditional food tasting - Chef Mihai Pascu.
A tasty gift from ECOMUSEUM MARAMUREŞ - non-profit association which promotes, through a sustainable tourism strategy, the tradition, the ancestral values and the authentic way of life preserved in the villages of Maramures, a northwestern region of Romania.
ecomuseummaramures.ro/

20:00 - Extraordinary concert
Alexandru Tomescu - violonist (Sradivarius Elder-Voicu violin) et Claudia Bara - piano
PROGRAMME: Schubert, Franck, Enescu, Saint-Saëns
One man. One violin. These two concepts are enough to create a Universe. And when the man is Alexandru Tomescu and the violin is a Stradivarius, the new-born Universe is inhabited by fascinating creatures made of sonorous colour and density, all destined to cast a spell upon the public.
After a more than fruitful career in Europe and throughout the world, filled with successes in halls such as Théâtre des Champs Elysees – Paris, Carnegie Hall – New York or Metropolitan Arts Centre – Tokyo, performing with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Kurt Masur or Christoph Eschenbach, Alexandru returned to Romania. He devoted himself to organizing classical music national tours, all privately funded. Alexandru Tomescu is one of the first Romanian artists to commit to delivering  the message of classical music to towns with no philharmonic orchestras.
In recognition of his great talent, the Romanian state granted Alexandru Tomescu the privilege of playing the Stradivarius violin which had previously been in possession of musician Ion Voicu. The Stradivarius Elder violin was played by maestro Ion Voicu for four decades and is considered to be one of the best-preserved Stradivarius instruments in the world.
"A refined and graceful pianist" (Classica, Paris 2012), with an intense international activity, Claudia Bara has been performing in Belgium since 2007. Visiting Professor at the Institute of Music and Pedagogy in Namur, Claudia Bara has also collaborated with the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, an establishment of excellent artistic training.
Loyal to chamber music, Claudia Bara often plays in the company of renowned musicians such as Tatiana Samuil, Gérard Caussé, Philippe Bernold, Justus Grimm etc., as well as the first winners of the 2009 Queen Elizabeth competition: Ray Chen, Lorenzo Gatto, Ilian Garnet ...

The "Enescu - Chamber Music" album recorded in Paris in 2011, received great reviews in Europe, the United States and Japan. "Enescu - Chamber Music" won the “Recording of the year” in 2012 (Gramophonne, London) and received the prestigious "5 Diapasons" award (Paris, 2012).  Always close to the music of George Enescu, Claudia Bara has been, since 2007, one of the official pianists of the prestigious “George Enescu International Competition”.
In 2009, she was part of the international tour promoting the George Enescu Festival in 6 European capitals. Alongside violinist George Tudorache (first concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liege and "first leader" of the London Symphony Orchestra) and cellist Johann Bohorquez (first cello of the Opera Heidlberg, Germany), Claudia Bara has released "Eliade Piano Trio" in 2014 - highly praised following tours in Belgium, France, Germany...
www.alexandrutomescu.com