Award-winning Violinist Irina Muresanu Opens Our New "Enescu Soirees" Program

THE ENESCU SOIREES is our newest permanent program, designed to showcase, cultivate and promote Romanian music in New York City and other major cultural centers of the United States through memorable chamber concerts featuring outstanding Romanian, American and international performers and a wide array of styles and genres. We are excited to launch this new RCI series, honoring the name of our greatest composer, George Enescu (1881-1955), with one of the most accomplished Romanian-American musicians, award-winning violinist IRINA MURESANU, and her musical tour de force performance entitled “Four Strings Around the World”.

Romanian-American violinist Irina Muresanu has won the hearts of audiences and critics alike with her “irresistible” (Boston Globe), exciting, elegant and heartfelt performances of the classic, romantic and modern repertoire. The Los Angeles Times has written that her “musical luster, melting lyricism and colorful conception made Irina Muresanu’s performance especially admirable”. Her performances have been frequently cited among the Best of Classical Music Performances by the Boston Globe. Muresanu has performed in renowned concert halls throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Her solo engagements include concerts with the Boston Pops, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, the Williamsburg Symphonia, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Geneva), the Transvaal Philharmonic (Pretoria, S. Africa), the Romanian National Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Radio Flamande (Brussels), the Boston Philharmonic, amongst others. Her most recent recording releases include the Thomas Oboe Lee’s Violin Concerto (which the composer dedicated to her) on the BMOP label, and works of Elena Ruehr on Avie Records. She has also recorded the complete William Bolcom sonatas on the Centaur label with pianist Michael Lewin. In Europe, her recording of the Guillaume Lekeu and Alberic Magnard late Romantic Violin and Piano Sonatas with pianist Dana Ciocârlie for the AR RE-SE French label has sparked enthusiasm. She currently serves on the Faculty at the University of Maryland School of Music and has taught at Boston Conservatory and in the Harvard and MIT Music Departments. She received the prestigious Artist Diploma degree and a Doctor in Musical Arts degree from the New England Conservatory. She plays an 1849 Giuseppe Rocca violin and an Étienne Pajeot bow. (Photo credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco)

“Four Strings Around the World” is a project of global resonance conceived by violinist Irina Muresanu as an homage to music cultures around the world. This program narrates the story of the violin through time and space and showcases composers from four continents. The journey starts in Romania (Mureșanu’s native country) and ends in North America. The works in this program are inspired by the folk music of Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South and North America. Two commissions, by Indian composer Shirish Korde and Native American composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate were written specially for Irina Muresanu's project. "Four Strings around the World" was awarded a prestigious NewMusicUSA grant and a Creative and Performing Arts Award from the University of Maryland. The recording of “Four Strings Around the World” was released in April 2018 by Sono Luminus to great acclaim in the professional world. This is a fast-paced theatrically conceived show, with a multimedia video component. Be prepared to be amazed by the wild variety of sounds and colors created by just... four strings!

“The Enescu Soirees” is a brand-new permanent program of the Romanian Cultural Institute designed to showcase, cultivate and promote Romanian music in New York and other major cultural centers of the United States through chamber music concerts of highest quality featuring Romanian, American and international performers and a wide array of styles and genres. The namesake of the series honors Romania’s most prolific and revered musician, George Enescu (1881-1955), a genius composer, violinist, pianist, and conductor. “The Enescu Soirees” will aim to present the integrale of Enescu’s chamber works (many of them recently discovered and completed), an endeavor never attempted before, together with other major creations of the Romanian and international classical music repertoire.

Our events are free and seating is available on a first-come-first-served basis. We generally overbook to ensure a full house.