Christmas Celebrations at the Romanian Cultural Institute

As our busy 2019, teeming with events, discoveries and friends, draws to a close, join us to reflect upon a new beginning and celebrate Christmas and the winter holidays together with mulled wine, seasonal treats, and traditional carols. With a special appearance by pan flute virtuoso Mariana Preda. 

Mariana Preda is a Romanian pan flute performer based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She started singing at the age of six and continued her music studies throughout her childhood at Bălaşa Doamna School in Târgoviște. Her education was enriched by famous pan flute musicians like Gheorghe Zamfir and Damian Drăghici, who coached Mariana towards her path as a professional musician. She is currently finishing her 2nd Masters year at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, under the guidance of Dutch Pan Flute Professor Matthijs Koene. Until now she has won numerous music awards and has released three albums with the Italian label MAP, entitled “Luna”, “Sunrise”, and “The Untold Stories”. In November 2015 Mariana was the Romanian Ambassador for the Amsterdam Light Festival. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 she performed at UNTOLD Festival in Cluj Napoca, the largest electronic music festival in Romania, approaching a new style of music. She is the winner of the Outstanding Musician and the Bartok Special Awards at the 27th edition of IBLA Grand Prize, an annual music competition taking place in Ragusa, Italy. She had her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York on May 7, 2019.

Many thanks to Sorin Onișor for the wonderful winter photograph.