American Romanian Festival 2023/24 • March 22, March 23, & April 13, 2024 Program Book

AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL 2 24

MARCH 22, 2024

MARCH 23, 2024

APRIL 13, 2024

Save the date!

Please check americanromanianfestival.org for future events as they get posted.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Marian Tănău,

STAFF

Marian Tănău, President & Artistic Director

Joan Olkowski, Website & Design

Lori Newman, Operations

Lori Runco

John Santeiu Jr.

THANK YOU

Leah Celebi—Vice President of Community Engagement & Programming, The War Memorial

Joan Olkowski—Website & Design

Lori Newman—Editing

Matthew Pons—Stage Department Head, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Russell Miller—Interim Chair, Department of Music, Wayne State University

The Santeiu Family

SPONSORS.

SPONSORS

The American Romanian Festival programs are supported by our generous sponsors.

GOLD LEVEL

$3000–$4999

Elizabeth Greve & Franz Herbert

Marian & Jennifer Tănău

Wayne State University, Dept of Music

SILVER LEVEL

$1000–$2999

Ann & James Nicholson

John & Judy Santeiu Jr.

BRONZE LEVEL

$30–$999

Mihaela & Jason Batke

Dragos & Roxana Galusca

Iuliana & Ovidiu Niculescu

FRIENDS CIRCLE

$50–$299

Hermina Anghelescu

Ioan & Georgeta Atanasiu

Paul & Barbara Burakoff

Marcy Chanteaux

Doug & Minka Cornelson

Mircea & Daniela Cure

Maureen D'Avanzo

Doina David

Ileana Dragnea

Joanna Firestone

Viorica Fuchs

Adrian & Ella Gheorghiu

Miahi Lehne

Lynne Metty

Silviu & Gela Pala

Wiley Pickett Jr.

Lori Runco

Elena & Razvan Sebe

Ioan & Silvia Stan

Elena Vasiliu

The Amazing Cimbalom (Ţambal)

with Virtuoso

Alexandru Șura

CONCERT & WORKSHOP

Friday, March 22, 2024 / 11:30 a.m.

Wayne State University, Schaver Recital Hall

480 W Hancock St, Detroit, MI 48201

FREE ADMISSION

ARTISTS

Alexandru Şura, cimbalom

Marian Tănău, violin

Sujin Lim, violin

Eva Stern, viola

David LeDoux, cello

CONCERT PROGRAM

arr. Alexandru Șura

Cimbalom Medley

Colin Martin (b. 1993)

Hammered Light

••• World premiere •••

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)

arr. Alexandru Șura

“Summer” (L’estate) from The Four Seasons

I. Allegro non molto

II. Adagio e piano arr. Alexandru Șura

III. Presto

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)

arr. Alexandru Șura

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso

The Music of the Cimbalom: An Afternoon with Cimbalom (Ţambal)

Virtuoso Alexandru Șura

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

Saturday, March 23, 2024 / 2 p.m.

Steinway Piano Gallery Detroit

2700 E West Maple Rd

Commerce Charter Twp, MI 48390

ADMISSION ⁄ $10–$25

Student: $10 (ID Required) / Regular: $25 / Payments Accepted: Cash, Credit Card, Check ARTISTS

Alexandru Şura, cimbalom

Marian Tănău, violin

Sujin Lim, violin

Eva Stern, viola

David LeDoux, cello

CONCERT PROGRAM

arr. Alexandru Șura

Cimbalom Medley

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

arr. Alexandru Șura

Carmen Fantasy

Colin Martin (b. 1993)

Hammered Light

••• World premiere •••

- INTERMISSION -

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)

arr. Alexandru Șura

“Summer” (L’estate) from The Four Seasons

I. Allegro non molto

II. Adagio e piano arr. Alexandru Șura

III. Presto

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)

arr. Alexandru Șura

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)

arr. Alexandru Șura

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in c-sharp minor

CONCERT

SATURDAYS WITH CLASSICS COLLABORATES WITH THE AMERICAN ROMANIAN FESTIVAL Mozart, Schumann, Enescu,

& Tăutu Chamber Music

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

Saturday, April 13, 2024 / 2 p.m.

Steinway Piano Gallery Detroit 2700 E West Maple Rd

Commerce Charter Twp, MI 48390

ADMISSION: TICKETS SOLD AT THE DOOR

Payments Accepted: Cash, Credit Card, Check

ARTISTS

Marian Tănău, violin

Mike Chen, viola

David LeDoux, cello

Tomoko Mack, piano

Kazimierz Brzozowski, piano

CONCERT PROGRAM

Cornelia Tăutu (1938–2019)

Rota II for Violin and Cello (2005)

Marian Tănău, violin; David LeDoux, cello

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)

Piano Quartet No. 1 in g minor, K. 478 (1785)

1. Allegro

2. Andante

3. Rondo (Allegro)

Marian Tănău, violin; Mike Chen, viola; David LeDoux, cello; Tomoko Mack, piano

- INTERMISSION -

Mozart, Schumann, Enescu, & Tăutu

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

George Enescu (1881–1955)

Concertstück for Violin and Piano (1906)

Marian Tănău, violin; Kazimierz Brzozowski, piano

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47 (1842)

I. Sostenuto assai—Allegro ma non troppo

II. Scherzo: Molto vivace—Trio I—Trio II

III. Andante cantabile

IV. Finale: Vivace

Marian Tănău, violin; Mike Chen, viola; David LeDoux, cello; Kazimierz Brzozowski, piano

Alexandru Şura

CIMBALOM

Born in 1980 in Kishinev, Moldova, the talented Alexandru Șura started studying piano at the “V. Poleacov” School of Music. Two years later, he entered the cimbalom class at Ciprian Porumbescu High School. Since the age of 12, Alexandru has consistently won the top prize in various national and international competitions. At about this time, he began to play with professional and prestigious orchestras in Romania and Moldova, including the academic orchestras “Joc” and “Lăutarii.”

Since embarking upon his solo career, he has given many concerts and recitals in concert halls such as the National Philharmonic (Moldova) and the Place des Arts (Canada), and has toured extensively including appearances in Canada, the USA, Romania, Austria, Russia, Germany, Belarus, Israel, France, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Estonia, and Turkey. Alexandru has an impressive interpretive technique, and a sound with a rare finesse. He is emotional in everything he does. He is true and persuasive, always winning over the public with the expressiveness of his interpretation. His repertoire is rich and varied, ranging from traditional music, folk performances, and classical music to works by contemporary composers. ❖

Marian Tănău VIOLIN

picked up the violin at age 4 and began his musical education in his hometown of Timișoara in Romania. He graduated from Liceul de Muzica “Ion Vidu,” where he studied violin with Maria Cleşiu. He then left for the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca and the Conservatorul de Muzica “G. Dima,” where he earned an Artists Diploma. Later in the USA, he earned a graduate degree from Bowling Green State University.

Tănău joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1995. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Romania and the USA and is an active chamber musician. In 2004, Tănău joined the violin faculty at Wayne State University. In 2005, he was awarded a sabbatical year and moved temporarily to Romania where he joined the music faculty at the National College of Art “Ion Vidu” and the Music Conservatory of the West University from Timișoara.

His recording of the Violin Sonata by Paul Paray, recorded for Grotto Productions, received praise from critics in the prestigious Strad, Gramophone, and Fanfare magazines.

Marian Tănău is the founder and president of the American Romanian Festival Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote American and Romanian music and culture to audiences in the USA and Europe. ❖

ARTISTS

Sujin Lim

Eva Stern

VIOLA

Violinist Sujin Lim was born in Seoul, South Korea, where she began her musical studies at age 5. She joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as section violinist in 2017.

Sujin is a prizewinner in numerous national and international violin competitions, including the Lodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition (Italy), Torun International Violin Competition (Poland), Indianapolis Matinee Musical Scholarship Competition, Indiana University Sibelius Concerto Competition (United States), and the Joongang Music Competition and Ewha Kyunghyang Competition (Korea).

Sujin has appeared in recital and as a soloist throughout Korea, Europe, and the United States with the Romania Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Bacau, Torun Symphony Orchestra, Yeonsae University, and the Indiana University Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, she is member of the EM trio in Korea and performed in such chamber recitals as Yagi Studio, Jungdong Hall, KNUA Hall, and Kumho Art Hall. Sujin has also served as principal concertmaster in the Evansville Philharmonic, Indiana University Symphony, KNUA Symphony, and the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra. ❖

Violist Eva Stern wears many hats, including chamber musician, orchestral player, and movement educator. She is a member of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and has served on music school faculties including those of Eastern Michigan University, Bowling Green State University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Previously, she has been a member of the St. Louis Symphony and the Louisville Orchestra, and plays as a substitute musician with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Eva is a founding member of the Michigan-based Muse Ensemble, and has performed with chamber ensembles including the Chautauqua String Quartet, the Michigan Chamber Players, Chamber Music Ann Arbor, and the American Romanian Festival.

Eva is a Pilates teacher and Franklin Method educator. She specializes in working with musicians and teaches musician-focused movement classes and workshops across the country and online. You can learn more about her at fortemovement.com. ❖

ARTISTS.

David LeDoux

CELLO

David LeDoux has appeared as a soloist with the Syracuse Symphony, the Skaneateles Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Tulsa Philharmonic, the Oklahoma State University Symphony, the Louisiana Sinfonietta, and the Mid-Texas Symphony.

Mike Chen VIOLA

LeDoux is an active and avid chamber musician, including many years with the Syracuse Society for New Music. As a committed private teacher, he spent 2012 as a cello instructor for Imagine Syracuse, a music program in an inner-city school that was modeled after the El Sistema program in Venezuela.

Previous professional engagements for David have included serving as Principal Cellist with the Baton Rouge (LA) Symphony, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Symphony, and the Louisiana Sinfonietta. Last summer, David returned to his faculty position with the Eastern Musical Festival in Greensboro, NC.

David and his wife currently reside in Madison Heights, and David includes among his hobbies reading, running, and movies. ❖

to 2017. Mike was a member of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2012, and prior to that, a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 1992 to 1995. Additionally, Mike has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony. In 2017, Mike joined the Cincinnati Symphony on its European Festivals Tour.

Mike received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University, studying violin with Blair Milton. In 1999, he began playing the viola and studied with Li-Kuo Chang. His other teachers include Michael Strauss, Peter Slowik, Keith Conant, and Baird Dodge.

Mike received a Master’s degree in conducting at Northwestern University in 1999, studying with Victor Yampolsky and Mariusz Smolij. His other conducting teachers include Gilbert Varga, David Zinman, and Murry Sidlin. Mike was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen, Colorado, in 2008. He has also served as assistant conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, guest conductor of the Webster University Community Music School’s Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, and guest conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Side-by-Side Orchestra. ❖

ARTISTS

Academy of Music, Chopin Society, Warsaw Musical Society, National Philharmonic Hall, and at Zelazowa Wola—Chopin’s birthplace. He has made recordings for Polish Radio and Television and recorded compact discs of music by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Szymanowski, Liszt, and Bartók. His recordings are also included in the popular CD sets “Living With the Classics.”

Mr. Brzozowski’s performance highlights include a New York City Carnegie Hall debut; performances in Warsaw with the Polish National Radio Orchestra, recorded live for Public Radio and Television; concerts at the Mozart Festival and the Chopin Festival in Warsaw; recitals for the Chopin Foundation in Florida; and concerts in Japan.

Kazimierz Brzozowski currently resides in Michigan, where he frequently performs in recitals and as a soloist with symphony orchestras including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He performs in his native Poland as well, in recitals and as a soloist with Philharmonic Orchestras.

He is a graduate of the Warsaw Chopin Academy of Music (M.M.) and the University of Michigan (DMA). He has received awards from the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw, Ann Arbor Musical Society

in Michigan, the University of Michigan, and the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York. He was a prizewinner at the Polish National Piano Festival and Chopin Society Competition in Warsaw. In July 2016 at the 20th International Piano Festival in Nałęczów, he was decorated with the Medal of Merit for Polish Culture, awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland in recognition of his artistic and pedagogical achievements. At the same time, he received Appreciation Awards from the Mayor of the city of Nałęczów and from the Lublin Voivodeship Marshal for his cultural contribution to the city and the region. Mr. Brzozowski is a Steinway artist.

Dr. Brzozowski is the founder and director of the International Music Festival, which is held annually in Nałęczów, Poland. This event, now in its 20th year, attracts international high school and college students for intensive study and performances, both solo and with chamber orchestra. Faculty and guest artists come from Poland, the United States, Russia, and Japan. ❖

Tomoko Mack

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Tomoko began her piano studies at age 5, and performed in public for the first time at age 7. She fell in love with the sound of the piano at a young age, and it hasn’t changed! Tomoko came to the United States at age 10 and continued her studies, performing and competing at regional, national, and international competitions. She won 1st place with her sister Yuki at the Tokyo International duo competition and a special “Kodama” prize from the founder of the competition. She was also a top-prize winner with her sister at the Dranoff International duo competition in Miami, Florida. She has recorded four acclaimed CDs with her sister. Her recordings are available on CD Baby and also through her website. Tomoko is an active performer and teacher, and she is also frequently invited to adjudicate at major piano competitions in the USA and Japan. Since 2010, Tomoko has served as artistic director for the Steinway Society of Michigan, and since 2023, she has held a teaching position at Wayne State University. Every summer, she travels with her husband, pianist Kazimierz Brzozowski, to Poland to teach, perform, and co-direct the International Piano Festival in Nałęczów. They spend two summer months in their second home in the quaint old town of Kazimierz Dolny, enjoying family life and preparing new repertoire. Tomoko is a co-founder of the International Piano Festival in Nałęczów, Poland, and she received a Commissioner’s Medal of Honor from the Ministry of Education in 2021 in Warsaw. ❖

PROGRAM NOTES

COLIN MARTIN (B. 1993)

Hammered Light

NOTE

BY

COLIN MARTIN

Hammered Light is an exploration of the concept of light and how to create it through music. Through the use of register, timbre, and harmony, the piece shifts through various stages of light, from more active, rhythmically propulsive music to calmer, static states that shimmer through the use of string harmonics. It is also an attempt to craft a work for the cimbalom that explores its melodic, percussive, and timbral possibilities outside of the instrument’s traditional use in folk music.

The piece is in a symmetrical form, with a buoyant opening section that features pizzicato strings interspersed with cimbalom hits, eventually giving way to a flowing, contrapuntal section. The music fades into long, sustained chords of string harmonics that support a cimbalom cadenza. This section eventually activates before suddenly falling back into the contrapuntal material, which gives way to the opening material before suddenly and unexpectedly shifting back into the string harmonics, ending the work by fading away into nothing. ❖

CORNELIA TĂUTU (1938–2019) Rota II (2005)

NOTE BY MARIAN TĂNĂU

Romanian composer Cornelia Tăutu is best known for her music written for film soundtracks. She attended the National University of Music in Bucharest, where she studied composition with Mihail Jora, Aurel Stroe, and Anatol Vieru. She went on to work at the esteemed Institute for Ethnology and Folklore “Constantin Brăiloiu” of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest.

Rota II is a duet for violin and violoncello that opens slowly and austerely and evokes the contemplative nature of a long-forgotten ancestral melody. This is followed by a faster section that is filled with rapid passages and counterpoint. There are a series of tempo changes, after which the melody picks up in a more urgent and frenetic nature, taking on the character of a gigue or a reel. The piece is approximately 5 minutes in length. ❖

GEORGE ENESCU (1881–1955)

Concertstück for Viola and Piano (1906)

NOTE BY MARIAN TĂNĂU

George Enescu composed Concertstück for Viola and Piano in 1906, while a student at the Paris Conservatoire. The piece was dedicated to Théophile Laforge, professor of viola at the Paris Conservatoire as well as viola soloist at the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, now the Orchestre de Paris. Enescu composed Concertstück as a commission entry request by composer Gabriel Fauré for the annual viola competition at the Paris Conservatoire. The piece is a virtuosic work containing fast, running passages; double-stops; and lyrical passages. It was created to showcase the technique of the violists performing the piece in the competition. It was published in 1908 by Enoch. ❖

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)

Piano Quartet No. 1 in g minor, K. 478 (1785)

NOTE BY MARIAN TĂNĂU

The Piano Quartet No. 1 in g minor, K. 478, is written for violin, viola, cello, and piano. It was composed in 1785, the result of a commission by publisher and composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister, who asked Mozart to compose a set of three piano quartets. Hoffmeister, however, retracted the commission because he believed the quartets would not be in demand with the amateur musicians of the time. Always seizing the moment, Mozart went ahead and composed a second piano quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493, a few months later.

The Quartet in g minor is in three movements: Allegro, Andante, and Rondo (Allegro). The first movement starts in unison and from there develops much more passionately, allowing the key of g minor to lend to the musical darkness, and is filled with dialogue between the strings and the keyboard. The slow movement is lyrical and brings a respite of serene, beautiful music weaved with ornate passages accompanying the melody. The quartet ends with virtuosic and dramatic passages, but it is still full of light and optimism, lent in part by the key shift to G Major. ❖

PROGRAM NOTES

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810–1856)

Piano

Quartet in E-flat

Major, Op. 47 (1842)

NOTE BY JONATHAN BLUMHOFER

Schumann’s Piano Quartet dates from the “chamber music year” of 1842, which also saw the completion of the three string quartets and the Piano Quintet. If the latter is, perhaps, the more brilliant of the two works for keyboard and strings, there’s at least no faulting the sweeping lyricism, deep reservoirs of emotion, and spectacular technique to be found on nearly every page of the Quartet.

Its first movement opens with a noble, chorale-like theme in the strings punctuated by tolling octaves in the piano. This flows directly into the main body of the movement, a brisk Allegro marked by a snappy opening figure that transforms into a rather lyrical tune played by cello and violin over a chugging piano accompaniment. Its second theme falls into two parts: a rising scale, followed by a descending arpeggio. It’s often heard in canonic textures or in the vicinity of a choral-like cantus firmus.

The brisk second movement channels Schumann’s friend Mendelssohn’s “elfin” style, here, though, a bit darker and dourer. It’s sprightly and whimsical, all the same, filled with impetuous energy that’s only interrupted by the two trio sections that pop up in the middle.

In the third movement, Schumann’s considerable gifts as a tunesmith are fully on display. The cello opens with a gorgeous, expansive melody that’s passed to each member of the quartet and heard with slightly varied accompaniments in each iteration. In the middle comes a striking, devotional passage that seems to recall late Beethoven, but does little to dispel the music’s sense of yearning.

The brilliant finale offers two contrasting ideas: a lively, extroverted fugato and a more ambiguous, songful tune. Neither really wins out—the blazing coda pays homage to both—but perhaps that’s the point. Musical complexity and contradiction are but a reflection of the same human characteristics, a fact of which Schumann was well aware. ❖

WISE GIVING STRATEGIES

PLEASE BE PART OF OUR SUCCESS & JOIN OUR FAMILY OF DONORS!

Strategies For Wise Giving Plan

There are many ways to support the American Romanian Festival Inc. We thank our members, donors, volunteers, and sponsors for their loyalty, enthusiasm, and their help in supporting the events of the American Romanian Festival Inc., which bridge cultures and foster mutual understanding.

Looking To Make Smart Donations?

Based on presentations by professional financial advisors, here are some strategies for giving wisely, following recent changes in the tax law. The advisors identified five strategies that make great sense. Here they are in brief:

GIVE CASH:

Whether you itemize deductions or not, it still works well.

GIVE APPRECIATED ASSETS:

This helps you avoid capital gains taxes, will give you a potentially more significant deduction if you itemize, and can reduce concentrated positions in a single company.

BUNCH GIVING:

Give double your normal amount every other year to maximize deductions.

QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION/REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTION:

If you are required to take an IRA distribution, don’t need the cash, and don’t want the increased taxes, have the distribution sent directly to a qualified charity.

HIGH-INCOME YEARS:

If you are going to have high-income years (for any number of reasons), accelerate your deductions, avoid capital gains, and spread out gifts through a Donor-Advised Fund.

BE PROACTIVE:

Consult your own financial advisor to help you implement any of these.

START YOUR STRATEGY TODAY

Please consider applying one or more of these strategies for your extra giving to the American Romanian Festival Inc.

MISSION

The American Romanian Festival Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster mutual understanding and promote American and Eastern European music and culture.

A specific focus of the festival is to encourage cultural awareness and understanding between people of culture, musicians, and artists of the United States and Romania. The festival organizes educational, cultural, and artistic events that take place in Romania and the USA. Founded in 2005, the organization supports cultural exchanges with Americans participating in events in Romania and Romanians participating in events in the USA.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

To make a tax-deductible contribution, please make checks payable to the American Romanian Festival Inc. and mail to:

American Romanian Festival Inc.

1407 Ferdon Road

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

americanromanianfestival.org