The "George Enescu" Philharmonic opens the 2023 - 2024 symphonic season at the Romanian Athenaeum.

The "George Enescu" Philharmonic will open the 2023 - 2024 symphonic season with concerts scheduled for October 6th and 7th on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum. The invited conductor to inaugurate the new season is the Argentinean Jose Cura, who will appear before the audience both as a conductor and as a composer. Under his baton, the young pianist Alim Beisembayev, the 2021 winner of the prestigious Leeds competition, will make his debut with the "George Enescu" Philharmonic. According to the institution, starting from this season, the young cellist Andrei Ioniţă is appointed artist-in-residence. At the age of 29, Andrei Ioniţă boasts an impressive resume: he is the only Romanian winner in the history of the most challenging performance competition, the Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia, 2015 edition, and in 2019 - 2020, he held the same position as artist-in-residence at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. At the helm of the Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic will continue to be the chief conductor Christian Badea and the principal conductors Leo Hussain and Gabriel Bebeşelea. Also, prominent figures in the world of conducting who have left their mark on the genre's history are invited, including Jean-Claude Casadesus, Lawrence Foster, Thomas Sanderling, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Sanderling.

Among the renowned musicians present in the 2023 - 2024 season are Christian Zacharias, honorary director of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic, in a dual role - as conductor and soloist, in the concert on February 15th - 16th, 2024, conductor Cristian Măcelaru, pianists Elisabeth Leonskaja and Nelson Goerner. Numerous young foreign artists who have made a name for themselves on international stages will perform for the first time at the "George Enescu" Philharmonic: Kristine Balanas, Harry Ogg, Arabella Steinbacher, Fr. Lopez Ferrer, Boris Giltburg, Kian Soltani, as well as distinguished Romanian performers: Daniel Ciobanu, Mihaela Martin, Raluca Ştirbăţ. The "George Enescu" Philharmonic will mark the conclusion of the "Prokofiev Year" with the performance of Symphony No. 5 and the conclusion of the "Paul Constantinescu Year" with the Byzantine Christmas Oratorio "Naşterea Domnului" (The Birth of the Lord). On the centenary of Gyorgy Ligeti's birth, the Philharmonic will perform the Romanian Concerto. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the first performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, which took place in May 1824, conductor Justus Franz will lead the Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic in presenting this masterpiece of vocal-symphonic repertoire at the Athenaeum. In addition, the Philharmonic will present premieres of works commissioned to young composers Alexandru Murariu and Ştefan Stoianovici. Another highlight of the 2023 - 2024 season for the "George Enescu" Philharmonic is CellEAST, the first cello festival in Romania.