The Road of Freedom, recognised by the Guinness World Records
Two Romanian musicians make into world book of records for the performance tour on all continent in under 100 days.
Ana-Maria Cononovici, 11.02.2025, 14:00
On the 35th anniversary of the Revolution of December 1989 and the idea of freedom, the violinist Diana Jipa and the pianist Ştefan Doniga embarked on a tour called “The Road of Freedom”. It was one of the largest and most important projects to promote Romanian culture worldwide and it earned Romania the first World Record for the FASTEST CONCERT TOUR ON ALL CONTINENTS, with the two recognised as the only musicians in the world who performed in fewer than 100 days on all 7 continents and the first to give a professional classical music concert in Antarctica. Stefan Doniga told us more:
“Our tour started out of love for Romanian music. We want to show the wealth and diversity and all that is beautiful in Romanian music to as many and diverse people as possible and in the most distant corners of the world. And these things have grown little by little in the 7 years since I have been collaborating with Diana Jipa, in the sense that at the beginning these were local projects for the public in Romania and students in general, something which is still true today, because we are very close to the students every time we can. And based on the experience we have gathered step by step, we expanded our area of expression in such a way that in 2023 we ended up being the first Romanian musicians to go around the planet in a single concert tour. And that experience told us that we could do it. It told us that we can withstand very long journeys, very complex logistics, that we know how to do it. So I came to this conclusion that making a world record, first and foremost a world record, Guinness, is, first of all, very good promotion, because everyone knows about the Book of Records. I’ve always been fascinated by people who do things for the first time in the world. So we thought that if we also went around the planet for the first time, on all continents, in fewer than 100 days, we might attract attention in a different way than by just being on stage.”
Diana Jipa explained further:
“We set out to mark in a memorable way 35 years since the Revolution. That’s why it was called the Road of Freedom, as we already had the experience of the tour we did a year ago, which took us around the world, in which we were the first musicians, at least the first from Romania, to do this. Let’s say that we were prepared for something bigger, more important, more demanding, like this tour in which we travelled to all continents, the first six in about 21 days, and then Antarctica, in total 98 days and 22 hours, as the Guinness Book record says. Imagine all these years in which we worked very hard to be really be artists. Only in moments like these do we realise that we are leaving something behind, something to inspire others, especially young people, for them to realise that if you work hard and stay true to your dreams, they can come true.”
And the audiences were fascinated everywhere they went, Diana Jipa told us:
“We had exclusively Romanian music in the repertoire, in the program of all these recitals, of course we were sometimes nervous. Romanian music is very varied, and we included composers of different ethnic backgrounds to express the idea of freedom and the audience appreciated this. They were very fascinated by our endeavor, which looked exotic to them, especially those on the more distant continents.”
And since the first GUINNESS record in the music field was recorded by the members of the band Metallica, in 2013, for concerts on all continents, we asked Ştefan Doniga if this was a source of inspiration:
“I am a great admirer of Metallica, I grew up with their music, I listen to both classical music and heavy metal, so it was impossible not to be influenced by what they did and I knew that they had performed in Antarctica. Since 2013 I have been very inspired by their courage. When Diana Jipa and I flew to Antarctica, we obviously took the only Antarctic flight company that connects Puntarenas, the city where we were based, and the scientific stations in Antarctica. The flight’s crew included people who 11 and a half years ago had been on the same flight with Metallica. We even took pictures wearing Metallica T-shirts, and we want to send them to the band because they really inspired us, they inspired whole generations in various ways and directions.”
Apart from the challenges of moving the piano and the violin around the world, finding the right moment for landing in Antarctica, the tour also brought exciting surprises, such as the welcome in Antarctica by those on the ground, dressed in blue, yellow, and red T-shirts, which are the colours of the Romanian flag. In the future, the two musicians wish to continue to promote Romanian music.
