Comunicat de presa

Între 18 şi 19 iulie 2010, o echipă a Artejescal din Madrid şi-a prezentat proiectul pentru promovarea culturii românesti.
Proiectul a fost demarat cu artiştii plastici din Moldova şi continuă acum în Oltenia.
Acţiunea a început la Slatina cu o manifestare culturală care dă noi speranţe artiştilor plastici din judeţul Olt, care au venit la întâlnirea cu António Calderón de Jesús în speranţa salvării spirituale şi morale dar şi a recunoaşterii artei şi muncii lor, a promovării acestora în afara ţării.
Întâlnirea a fost moderată de George Smarandache, lucrător în cultura judeţului Olt şi Tudor Şerbănescu, artist plastic român stabilit la Madrid, fondator al unei asociaţii de promovare a culturii denumită Pro Arte. Au fost prezenţi la această întâlnire artişti plastici din judetul Olt, ziarişti, oameni de cultură, prieteni ai artiştilor.
În acest proiect este vorba despre promovarea artelor plastice din partea de sud a României, care face parte integrantă dintr-un alt proiect, început cu ceva timp în urmă, demarat în partea de nord-est a ţării, respectiv Iaşi, Suceava, continuat apoi la Bucureşti, Slobozia, Craiova iar acum la Slatina, Drăgăneşti-Olt, Caracal, Corabia, Balş.
George Smarandache a subliniat că acest proiect îi poate ajuta pe artiştii români, pentru că deschide o poartă spre lumea internaţională a artei. „Lucrările artiştilor plastici olteni sunt bune, au un nivel, dar dacă nu sunt cunoscute şi scoase în afară, să li se facă şi o publicitate, vor rămâne numai în interiorul ţării şi se va întâmpla aşa cum s-a întâmplat cu marii maeştri ai României, care nu sunt cunoscuţi şi cotaţi peste hotare“, a subliniat George Smarandache.
În prezentarea făcută, domnul Tudor Şerbănescu a afirmat că acest proiect cultural este unul foarte ambiţios şi de mare anvergură. Ideea acestui proiect a avut-o Antonio Calderón de Jesús care fiind un promotor de artă, un critic de artă, ocupându-se cu arta, a dorit să cunoască şi artişti români. „Întâlnindu-ne la o expozitie de pictură, auzind că sunt român, a vrut să ştie mai multe despre români şi de ce arta românească nu există pe piaţa mondială nici ca imagine, nici fiind prezentă fizic în comerţul de artă. I-am explicat care au fost condiţiile la noi, de ce unii artişti nu au putut să iasă în lume… Atunci a dorit să cunoască cât mai mult şi având şi niste prieteni prin zona Sucevei, a mers mai întâi acolo. A mers la Suceava, la Botoşani şi la Iaşi, unde, împreună cu echipa Artejescal a filmat şi a făcut fotografii, a stat de vorbă cu oamenii. A fost şi în Bucuresti şi, după ce s-a întors la Madrid, cuvintele lui, când vorbea despre artişti, erau minunate, spunea peste tot că sunt geniali.“
Înregistrările făcute în timpul primelor incursiuni în lumea artelor plastice din România s-au concretizat în nişte CD-uri pe care le-a adunat într-o casetă cu câteva CD-uri. Acest lucru se va extinde în toată România, în toate locurile pe unde se merge se vizitează artisti, se filmează, se fotografiază şi toate aceste materiale adunate vor fi sintetizate şi se va face despre arta românească un film documentar, pentru a fi promovată atât în Madrid şi în alte oraşe din Spania, cât şi în România. „Vă daţi seama, în primul rând, ce efort material înseamnă din partea lui ca persoană particulară. El depăşeste acest lucru, pentru că arta românească a devenit o pasiune prin cunoaşterea artiştilor români, văzând valoarea operelor lor. Ideea este să promoveze arta românească şi artistii români, pentru că el cunoaşte ce se întâmplă în lumea artei mondiale, cunoaşte comerţul mondial de artă, ştie că românii pot intra în acest comerţ şi au locul lor. Imaginea artiştilor nu este numai pentru a câştiga bani, ci şi ca prezenţă a artei şi culturii românesti în cultura mondială.“
Antonio Calderón de Jesús cunoaşte foarte bine nu numai arta şi pictura românească, el cunoaşte artişti şi din alte domenii. Pentru promovarea artei şi culturii românesti, a fost premiat de revista Niram Art de la Madrid, a primit un premiu alături de alţi mari oameni de cultură: Varujan Vosganian, Dan Herciu de la Cluj şi alţii. A primit acest premiu într-un context onorant, pentru recunoaşterea eforturilor lui pentru promovarea artei.
Domnul António Calderón de Jesús a spus în discursul său că la momentul actual, în comerţul de artă mondial este un gol pe care îl pot ocupa artiştii români. „Nu este un proiect iluzoriu, ci este unul care are conţinut. Realitatea de care vorbesc sunteţi dumneavoastră, cei pe care v-am cunoscut şi lucrările pe care le-am văzut. Cred că ele trebuie recunoscute la nivel internaţional. În comerţul de artă mondial este o pauză, un gol, eu sunt cunoscător al acestor mecanisme şi al mersului artei şi îmi dau seama de acest lucru. Tocmai de aceea, cred că artiştii români pot să vină să ocupe acest gol. Ceea ce mi-aţi arătat îmi demonstrează că nu m-am înşelat în ceea ce am gândit şi felul dumneavoastră de a fi, acela de zi cu zi, de a lucra şi de a face lucruri importante, îmi dă încredere în ceea ce vreau să fac. Ceea ce faceţi este de nivelul artei mondiale şi trebuie să scoatem această artă la suprafaţă, pentru că lucrările pe care le prezentaţi sunt de nivelul artei mondiale. Pentru realizarea acestui obiectiv, pentru recunoaşterea de care vorbeam mai înainte, este necesar să se facă eforturi din partea tuturor.“
Domnul António Calderón de Jesús a profitat de faptul că s-a aflat în judeţul Olt pentru a vedea individual fiecare artist la el în zonă, pentru a-l include în acest proiect general făcut pe întreaga Românie. Judeţul Olt are mulţi artişti adevăraţi. Dânsul a mai subliniat faptul că are o bună colaborare cu domnul George Smarandache de mai mult timp, au fost o serie de emisiuni realizate prin internet cu Espacio Niram din Madrid, care este o cafenea literară ce are şi o galerie de artă. Acolo se organizează foarte multe evenimente, de la lansări de carte, expoziţii de pictură, fotografie, unde vin foarte mulţi străini din Spania şi din afara Spaniei. „Scopul nostru este ca prin cunoaşterea oamenilor din diverse locuri să fim puşi în contact cu alţi artisti şi cu alte persoane care ar fi dispuse să participe la acest proiect, pentru propagarea lui şi a artei şi culturii româneşti”.
Au fost vizitate atelierele artiştilor: Adriana Vâlcea şi Nicolae Truţă din Slatina, Marcel Duţu şi Traian Zorzoliu din Drăgăneşti Olt, Emilian Nuţu din Corabia, Dan Dimulescu din Caracal, Paul Tudor-Balş din Balş, George şi Felicia Păunescu din Bobiceşti.

Valeru Ciurea
George Smarandache

Invitation to composers -Musical seminar -22 July at 6pm

Dear Friends,

Thank you very much to those many who came to our As You Like It event in the Romanian Cultural Institute last week and gave us an enthusiastic full house to perform for. The four composers came to London from the US, Romania, Italy and Croatia, to hear the World Premieres of their works. They had a very satisfying time with us and we have now recorded their works for the first CD of the project.

Next week, on 22 July at 6pm we are holding a seminar with musical illustrations at 72 Warwick Gardens, followed by a buffet party. The event will be presented by myself, the London Schubert Players and the 78 years-old Swedish composer of German origin, Eberhard Eyser. His work, The Nightingale was singing all night long is written for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, and inspired by Schubert's Trout Quintet.

Performers:
Anda Anastasescu - Piano
Darragh Morgan - Violin
Ricardo Zwietisch - Viola
Sebastian Millett - Cello
Michael Cretu - Double Bass

Places at £15/person. Seating is limited and early booking is advised.

We hope to share this evening with you and send our best wishes,
Anda and the Schubert Players
www.invitationtocomposers.co.uk

Our next London concert will be on November 28th in the Royal Academy of Music. Meanwhile, we continue our musical journey to Norfolk, Edinburgh, Paris, Bucharest and Cluj.





Anda and the Schubert Players
www.invitationtocomposers.co.uk


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Comment from the European Commission:

Invitation to composers become one of 'Success Stories' written up for the European Commission (DG Education and Culture) and are now available online at http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc2410_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc/na/3long_en.pdf


Extending Europe’s classical music repertoire

When the London Schubert Players’ Chamber Orchestra (LSP) issued its first
‘Invitation to Composers’ they had a clear goal in mind – to extend the European
repertoire of new contemporary classical music for specific, and rare, chamber music
combinations.

The first ‘Invitation to Composers’ was issued in 2008 to composers of any age and
nationality to write short works for “specific chamber music combinations which do not exist
or are very rare in the standard classical music repertoire”. For Anda Anastasescu, LSP’s
founder and artistic director, the inspiration for the project came as a result of difficulties
experienced in finding quality works for specific instrumental combinations.
“For 18 years, as a professional performing group we encountered difficulties in
programming a number of great chamber works by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns,
Messiaen and Enescu – because they are each written for a specific instrumental
combination for which no other noted composer has so far written. In addition, we were
seduced by the idea of performing interesting combinations which the standard European
repertoire does not offer,” explains Anda.
The project is a partnership between the UK, France and Romania. It includes the
organization of concerts, seminars, workshops and conferences in all three countries, with
performances and presentations of the most inspired of the new works submitted to the
project. For this project, the LSP is collaborating with the Romanian Cultural Institute in Paris
and the Asociata Info Manager (AIM) in Bucharest. The official launch of the project in
London was held on 31 March 2010 at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in the presence
of Philip Cashian, Head of Composition at the RAM and a very influential figure in musical
composition..

A rich selection
A total of 22 works were selected during the first year of the project, submitted by composers
from 11 countries (Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Romania,
Sweden, UK and the US). The works were inspired by four models: Schubert’s Trout Quintet
for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass; Mendelssohn’s concerto for solo piano, solo
violin and string quintet; Saint-Saens septet for trumpet, piano and string quintet; and
Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps for piano, violin, clarinet and cello.
Norwegian composer, Bj¢rn Bolstad Skjelbred, saw in the ‘Invitation to Composers’ project
something different from the many other calls for scores and invitations to composers. “This
project stood out from the others because of its reference to specific pieces of music,
composers and instrumental combinations, and because of the musical calibre of its models.
The main motivation for my contribution to the project was imagining a piece of my own
music being compared to or put next to a landmark piece.”
For UK composer, Drew Wilson, the ‘models’ also provided an immediate creative impetus,
while leaving a free reign to the imagination: ”It will be very interesting to hear the different
approaches taken from the same starting point, especially given the very diverse cultural
backgrounds of the composers taking part.”
The composers will also have the opportunity to meet each other at the various events and
concerts organised. This is expected to provide further scope for the exchange of ideas and
comparison of musical approaches. “Cultural exchange in one's own field is always
interesting and instructive. Those of us from different countries will be the product of different
teaching and to some extent aesthetic environments, which throw a revealing light on one's
own preferences and - yes - prejudices, which hopefully get reduced as we are better
informed!” notes Drew.

Linking past and present
As well as filling gaps in Europe’s musical repertoire and enriching it with new and
interesting pieces from across the continent, the project also serves as a bridge between
past and contemporary composition.
“The project aims to create a new dimension in the art of composing in the field of classical
music,” says Anda. ”It inspires and provokes composers' imagination and skills to transmute
some of the greatest European musical ideas of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries into the
21st – providing a direct connection between great European musical traditions and
contemporary thought.”
A fundamental premise of the project is that the new pieces will be played alongside the
‘model’ they were inspired by. This is expected to bring new attention and a fresh eye to the
older pieces. “Somehow, you hear new things in them when they are set against the
contemporary compositions,” adds Anda. “They seem more modern, more courageous, and
you can imagine how it was when they were first composed.”
For the composers, too, the approach chosen fosters an appreciation of the past. “Through
this link with important compositions of the past, contemporary musicians can identify with
the West’s extraordinary musical tradition,” notes Roberto Brisotto (Italy), who based his
composition – Evocations Rituelles – on Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps.

Collaborative creation
Another key aspect of the project is the close collaboration between the musicians and the
composers. For the composer Ivan Božičević (Croatia), concerned by contemporary music’s
tendency to focus on complexity over beauty, this was a major consideration: “It seemed to
me that the ‘Invitation to Composers’ contained a genuine quest for beauty in new music.
The works were to be judged by future performers themselves, not by some complexityseeking
composer peers.”
The close collaboration between the musicians and the composers is appreciated by all
those involved. “For most composers, access to musicians is pretty limited,” says Drew
Wilson. “Having the opportunity to hear your piece played, participate in rehearsals and get
feedback from the players is really quite exciting. Sometimes things are not quite as you
imagined them, or are even not possible in practice. The interaction with the musicians
allows you to adapt the piece, refine it, before it is actually performed in front of the public.”
For the musicians, too, the exchange with the composers is very satisfying. Violin and viola
player, Ricardo Zwietisch, will be performing many of the new pieces with the London
Schubert Players: “It is very motivating to be discovering completely new pieces of music
and being able to get direct feedback from the composers themselves. It allows a creative
collaboration which helps to shape the piece and enrich the musical interpretation.”
As a viola player, he is also very pleased to see the creation of new pieces for viola. “There
are very few classical pieces written for the viola, so these new pieces will be an important
addition to the viola repertoire.”



The Invitation to Composers project is coordinated by Anda Anatasescu, founder and
artistic director of the London Schubert Players’ Chamber Orchestra. It is supported
by the European Commission’s Culture Programme 2007-2013 [Ref:…… ] The
selected works of the project will be published and recorded on CD, and a book will
be published about the composers.

More information:
The European Commission’s Culture Programme:
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/index_en.htm
The London Schubert Players’ Trust - Invitation to Composers
http://www.londonschubertplayers.co.uk/

The material is part of 'Success Stories' written up for the European Commission (DG Education and Culture) and can be found http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc/na/3long_en.pdf



Invitation to composer Project Team
www.invitationtocomposers.co.uk

[RomaniOxford] Pottery Workshop with Romanian Master Craftsman at the Ashmolean

The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London would like to invite you to Oxford for a

POTTERY WORKSHOP WITH MASTER CRAFTSMAN CORNEL SITAR

in association with the exhibition
THE LOST WORLD OF OLD EUROPE, The Danube Valley, 5000 – 3500 BC
supported by the Leon Levy foundation

Saturday 24 July 2010 at 11 am, 12.30 pm, and 2.30 pm, Education Studio, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH
Free Admission • Tel. 01865 278 000 • education.service@ ashmus.ox. ac.uk • www.ashmolean. org

Clay, water, a potter’s wheel - and a technique almost unchanged for thousands of years.

Come to the Ashmolean on Saturday 24 July 2010 and meet the craftsman CORNEL SITAR, a true master of ancient Romanian traditional pottery skills. Watch him create pots from scratch, using the same materials used by his ancestors.

The pottery demonstrations are free for all, drop-in sessions starting at 11 am, 12.30 pm, and 2.30 pm. Children are most welcome.

See the exhibition THE LOST WORLD OF OLD EUROPE (ticketed exhibition, details below), and then under the master’s guidance, try your hand at creating your very own traditional clay pot.

CORNEL SITAR is a traditional craftsman from the Baia Mare region in north-western Romania. He learned his trade from his parents, having first come into contact with the potter’s wheel in 1962, at the age of 13. From 1978, Cornel Sitar began working in the workshop inherited from his father. Pottery and ceramics became not only a way of preserving an ancient skill, but also a business, the entire Sitar family being involved in the workshop.

Today, Cornel Sitar produces 12,000 pieces every year, in about 160 shapes and sizes. The traditional ceramics from his workshop are specific to the Baia Mare, Baia Sprie and Targu Lapus areas, and comprise pots, plates, bowls, jugs and jars, among other forms.

• THE LOST WORLD OF OLD EUROPE
until 15 August 2010, Temporary Exhibition Galleries, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH
Tel. 01865 278 000 • Tickets: £6.00 / £4.00 concession • www.ashmolean. org

With major loans from Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova, ‘The Lost World of Old Europe’ presents more than 250 artefacts recovered by archaeologists from the settlements and cemeteries of ‘Old Europe’. This remarkable exhibition of gold, pottery and archaeological finds from the prehistoric civilisation of the Danube Valley, in southeast Europe, is presented in Britain for the first time.

Highlights of the exhibition include the ‘Thinker’ and Female Figurine from Cernavoda, as well as many ceramic and metallurgical pieces from the Cucuteni culture in Romania.

The exhibition has been organised by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University (ISAW) in collaboration with the National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest, and with the participation of the Varna Regional Museum of History, Bulgaria and the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova, Chisinau; and has been made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation.

Invitation to composers Project-Summer events 2010

As You Like It
Thursday 8 July 2010 at 8pm
Romanian Cultural Institute
1, Belgrave Square,
LONDON SW1X 8PH

An evening of carnivalesque effervescence, colour, instrumental dialogue, intense emotions, humour, piquanterie and folk tunes from the Balkans.
Presented by the London Schubert Players Trust and the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.
And with the participation of:
Romanian composer Lucian Zbarcea,
Serbian composer Ivan Božičević
American composer Rodney Waschka.
and Italian composer Uberto Pieroni.

With the London Schubert Players Septet (string quintet, trumpet and piano).
Pianists: Anda Anastasescu, Eralys Fernandez (Cuba) and Lachezar Stankov (Bulgaria)


There are no tickets issued for this concert and a donation of £10/person is kindly suggested. If you wish us to reserve your seats please send us a cheque payable to: London Schubert Players Trust, 72 Warwick Gardens, London W14 8PP. We will put your names on the attendance list available on the door on the night. Thank you very much indeed.

We are honoured on this occasion by the presence of a delegation from the European Commission.

We hope to see many of you at this concert and to celebrate together the interesting work of the four contemporary composers.

________________________________________________________________________

Hear The Nightingale was singing all night long
on 22 July at 6pm,
in a Seminar held by Anda Anastasescu and the 78 years-old Swedish composer of German origin,
Eberhard Eyser,
at 72 Warwick Gardens, followed by a buffet party.

The Nightingale is written for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass.

Places at £15/person. Seating is limited and early booking is advised. Thank you.
___________________________________________________________________

Spend the weekend of 24/25 July in North Norfolk listening to our first
Schubertiade Festival
where rivers Ant and Bure meet.
Concerts take place in beautiful old churches and an art historian will take you through the churches' history and architecture, as well as a tour of some of the most interesting in the area. Strawberry teas will be served.

Leaflet enclosed.
We have a list of welcoming and comfortable guest houses if you are interested.
__________________________________________________________________

We are thrilled to participate for the first time at
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
on August 26th,
performing in the Arts Centre of the very school which, for 10 years, offered the Silvestri scholarship places to the young Romanian scholars supported by my Silvestri Foundation. ___________________________________________________________________

We are looking forward to see you at our events and entertain you with our musical programmes.
Our next London event will be on November 28th in the Royal Academy of Music. Meanwhile, we continue our musical journey in Paris, Bucharest and Cluj.

Sending our warm wishes,

Anda and the Schubert Players
www.invitationtocomposers.co.uk