The American Romanian Festival Inc. announces its 2016 events that include chamber music concerts in Detroit and Lansing, workshops by visiting Romanian composer Cornel Ţăranu, and Romanian Film Screenings featuring special guest Tudor Giurgiu.
The festival events begin on September 28 at 4 p.m. with a Composers Workshop featuring visiting Romanian composer Cornel Ţăranu. The location is Room 1319, Old Main Building, Wayne State University.
On September 30 at 11:45 a.m. a quartet concert performed by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and WSU Faculty will perform the unique and amazing “Black Angels” String Quartet by George Crumb, as well as the piano quintet Prolegomenes by Cornel Ţăranu who will be conducting. The musicians performing this concert are Detroit Symphony Orchestra members Marian Tănău, Will Haapaniemi, and David LeDoux, as well as WSU Department of Music faculty members Laura Roelofs and Robert Conway. Schaver Recital Hall, Wayne State University. Free admission.
Members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Wayne State University faculty will join forces on October 2 at 3 p.m. for a concert titled “Passion and Youth” featuring the Enescu and Mellits String Octets. The performers are Yoonshin Song, concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Laura Roelofs, violin professor at Wayne State University; Detroit Symphony Orchestra members Heidi Han, Will Haapaniemi, Marian Tănău, Su Hang, and David LeDoux; and WSU faculty cello professor Judith Vander Weg. Schaver Recital Hall, Wayne State University. Free admission.
On October 6 at 7:30 p.m., the festival will present a chamber concert at Urban Beat, 1213 Turner Street, Lansing, Michigan 48906, featuring the Fusion Trio performing Ravel and Enescu Piano Trios. The members of the Fusion Trio are Marian Tănău, violin; David LeDoux, cello; and Rebbeca Mayer, piano. This concert is presented as part of the Friends of Music Series lead by Michigan State University flute professor Richard Sherman. Tickets: $22 at the door, $20 online at http://www.absolutemusiclansing.org/buy-tickets.html.
The Fusion Trio will give a command performance on October 23 at 3 p.m. as part of the WSU Department of Music Sunday Concert Series at Schaver Recital Hall, located in the Old Main Building of Wayne State University. Free admission.
Additional concerts presented in collaboration with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra chamber music program will take place on September 22, 6:30 p.m. at the Birmingham Country Club as well as October 4 at a Macomb County location yet to be determined. Both those concerts will feature string octet music.
The 7th Annual Romanian Film Series, hosted in the Helmut Stern Auditorium at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, presents two movie screenings on November 6 and November 13. The second screening will be followed by a talk with visiting Romanian film director Tudor Giurgiu.
November 6, 3:30 p.m. Then I Sentenced Them All to Death (Moartea lui Ipu, 1972; Sergiu Nicolaescu, Drama, English Subtitles, 96 min)
During World War II, just before the events of August 23, 1944, a German soldier is found murdered in a Romanian village. The dead soldier’s superior threatens the villagers that unless the perpetrator is handed over by the following morning, they will all face reprisals. Free admission.
November 6, 5:30 p.m. The Miracle of Tekir (Miracolul din Tekir, 2015, Ruxandra Zenide, Drama, English Subtitles, 90 min)
The film tells, like a fable, the struggle of a young woman to protect her unborn child whom she believes is a miracle, an immaculate conception. Free admission.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd8fGetLsWw
November 13, 3:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Feature Film Screening and Talk with Director Tudor Giurgiu 3:30-3:45 p.m. – Tudor Giurgiu introduces his film Why Me?
Born in 1972 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Tudor Giurgiu has worked in cinema for over twenty years as a producer, director, and writer, and has over 50 credits to his name, including documentaries, shorts, music videos, and feature films. He is the owner of Librafilm, an independent production company, as well as the founder and festival director of Romania’s most prestigious film festival, the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF). Between 2005 and 2007 Tudor Giurgiu was President of the Romanian National Television, TVR. About his second feature film, Why Me? (2015), he has said, “It is the most important project I worked on. I would like for it to remain known as radiography of the Romanian society of the 2000s.” Free admission.
3:45 p.m. – Screening: Why me? (De ce eu?, 2015; Tudor Giurgiu, Drama, English Subtitles, 125 min)
Cristian, a young idealistic prosecutor whose career is on the rise, tries to crack a case against a senior colleague accused of corruption. The dilemma of choosing between his career and the truth weighs heavily on his shoulders. Looking further to solve the case, he enters a danger zone paved with unexpected and painful revelations. Free admission.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq06v2PGKuo
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Discussion with Tudor Giurgiu
The film screenings as well as the chamber music concerts at Wayne State University are free admission.
The mission of the American Romanian Festival is to create a bridge between the two cultures, helping to foster mutual understanding. The American Romanian Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax deductible as allowed by the IRS. To learn more about upcoming performances or to become a volunteer, please visit www.americanromanianfestival.org.
