Preparations for RadiRo
The world-famed conductor Kristjan Jarvi will be the honorary director of the 2016 RadiRo Festival, organized this autumn in Bucharest.
Mihai Pelin, 18.01.2016, 12:57
The famous conductor Kristjan Jarvi, musical director of the German Radio Orchestras and Choirs, will be the honorary director of the third RadiRo Festival, organised this autumn in Bucharest by Radio Romania. The directors of the previous editions were Christian Zaccharias and Cristian Mandeal. Jarvi won over the Romanian public with his spectacular first performance in the opening of the George Enescu Festival in 2015. Born in 1972 in Tallinn, Estonia, Kristjan Jarvi emigrated at the age of 6, together with his family, to the United States, and settled in New York. He studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music, and conducting at the University of Michigan.
His original approach to conducting and his projects that combine various music genres prompted Reuters to describe him as “one of the canniest, and most innovative programmers on the classical scene.” He is currently working with several orchestras in Europe and the USA. As honorary director of RadiRo 2016, he will bring to Bucharest, for the second time, for two concerts, the German Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, the oldest such ensemble in Europe. Kristjan Jarvi said he was very honoured to take part in the event and to return to Romania, because the first time he came here he was impressed with the warmth and love of the Romanian public. Such connections, he went on to say, cannot exist without love and true commitment, and neither can music.
The invitation to conductor Kristjan Jarvi was made by the president of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Ovidiu Miculescu, in Leipzig, where several meetings took place between the leaders of Radio Romania and ARD. On this occasion, talks were initiated regarding possible joint projects of the two institutions, with a focus on minorities issues and cultural initiatives. Also, the ARD director general, Karola Wille, said she was honoured to see the German Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra invited to take part in the International Festival of Radio Orchestras in Bucharest. The event, organised by Radio Romania, showcases the diverse repertoire, the innovative style and the artistic excellence of the radio symphonic orchestras in Europe.
(Translated by Ana Maria Popescu)