EAST LANSING, MIch. — This young and gifted ensemble of Romania’s brightest musicians heads to Wharton Center on Sunday, January 13, at 6:30 p.m. to entertain audiences with an evening of musically demanding repertoire. Tickets are available at the official source to purchase Wharton Center tickets online, whartoncenter.com, at the Auto-Owners Insurance Ticket Office, or by calling 1-800-WHARTON.
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF ROMANIA is composed of Romanian musicians ages 18-35 who are driven to create a unique experience in the common pursuit of musical excellence. They perform at the highest level characterized by virtuosity, abandon, joy and drama. With deep roots in music education, this orchestra has earned a reputation as one of the world’s top ensembles, by international critics.
Renowned conductor Cristian Măcelaru leads the orchestra’s first tour to the United States, which honors the 100th anniversary of the unification of Romania and Transylvania. Cristian Măcelaru was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Miami Symphony Orchestra and made his Carnegie Hall debut with that orchestra at the age of 19. He is also a proud alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Relax and enjoy an energetic program focus on George Enescu’s gypsy-inspired Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, Tchaikovsky’s famous Variations on a Rococo Theme in A major, Op. 33, Richard Strauss’s celebratory Suite from Der Rosenkavalier and Maurice Ravel’s seductive Boléro.
This selection of works highlights the brilliant young Romanian cellist Andrei Ionită, winner of the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition. The Times raves Andrei is “one of the most exciting cellists to have emerged for a decade.” As a musician, he collaborates regularly with the National Symphony Orchestra of Romania and brings gripping, deeply felt performances to concert halls around the world. The San Diego Union-Tribune proclaims, “Ioniță displayed an uncanny sureness of intonation and a beauty of tone, no matter how far his fingers traveled or how high his lines soared.”
