Radio Romania’s Charming Flute project travels to the United States

Radio Romania's Charming Flute project featuring flautist Ion Bogdan Stefanescu and pianist Horia Mihail goes on a US tour, with performances in Washington, DC and New York. 

This year's performance in New York marks the 25th anniversary of a partnership between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Metropolitan Opera and follows EBU's positive response to a collaboration project between the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, Radio Romania and EBU that included a performance organised by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York jointly with Radio Romania as part of the MET Broadcasters' Day in New York in 2014 and 2015.

The Charming Flute performances are scheduled for March 18, 6.30 pm, at the Romanian Embassy in Washington, DC and for March 20, 12 pm, at the Victor Borge Hall - Scandinavia House in New York (58 Park Ave.). The all-Romanian programme features works by Anton Pann, George Enescu, Tudor Ciortea, Paul Constantinescu, Petre Elinescu, Ciprian Porumbescu, Vasile Jianu, Ioan Dobrinescu and Tiberiu Brediceanu.

Flautist Ion Bogdan Stefanescu has participated in many national and international festivals, including the George Enescu Festival (Bucharest, Romania), the National Flute Association (Kansas, USA), the International Flute Association (Munich, Germany) and Wien Modern (Steingreber Festival). He has won numerous awards, such as the First Prize in the National Flute Competition (1985), the George Dima Award of the Academy of Music (Cluj Napoca, 1987) and the Composers' Union Award for Best Soloist (2007). In 2011, he was awarded by the Romanian President with the Cultural Order of Merit medal, the Class of Chevalier, for cultural excellence. Ion Bogdan Stefanescu is a member of three leading Romanian contemporary music groups, Trio Contrast, ProContemporania and Profil, and of the National Flute Association of America (NFA).

Pianist Horia Mihail studied at the University of Illinois under Ian Hobson and graduated in 1995. In 1999, he also received the Artist Diploma from the Boston University, where he studied under Anthony di Bonaventura. He is a concerto soloist of the Radio Romania Music Orchestras and Choirs and the Brasov Philharmonics. As arts manager of the Accendo Cultural Association, Horia Mihail has organised five MusicOn tours with the Romanian Piano Trio and three Stradivarius tours, as well as two projects in collaboration with Radio Romania:  The Travelling Piano and The Duel in Violins: Stradivarius vs. Guarnieri.