The series of meetings within the Conferences hosted by the Bucharest Opera House continues tomorrow, the 26^th of March, with a new lecture. More details we learn from Daniel Nica, the organizer and moderator of the Bucharest National Opera House conferences, who spoke with our colleague Ioana Țintea.

Mister Daniel Nica, the theme of the Bucharest National Opera House conference on the 26^th of March is "University, society, creativity". Please tell us more about this concept and the guests you are going to have at this conference.

The conference "University, society, creativity" is part of the series of conferences The stage of thought organized by the Bucharest National Opera House, which is a cycle of monthly meetings where the most important intellectual, artistic and academic personalities of our time come before the Bucharest audience.

Over the years, we have discussed topics from the most diverse fields - from music to literature, from philosophy to theatre and history.

On the 26^th of March, at 18:30, during the meeting entitled "University, society, creativity" my guests will be Diana Moș - rector of the National University of Music in Bucharest, Marian Preda - rector of the University of Bucharest and LiviuLucaci - rector of the National University of Theatre and Cinema. We will have a dialogue about the stakes and crises of education, about the present, the recent past and the future of higher education. We will address various questions, such as how universities have adapted to the most recent social changes, technological transformations, what are the prospects for the next period, how can the university keep its relevance for this very dynamic society we live in, whether the classical model of the university, the Humboldian model conceived in the mid-19^th century which we have kept up until today, is still relevant... for example, what would be the most important stake of the university: whether it is the production and transmission of advanced knowledge, whether it is the training of good professionals adapted to the labour market or the formation and strengthening of character... how do art universities and general universities relate to the dynamics of the digital society, how relevant are international rankings... There are a lot of topics that I look forward to discuss with my guests, rectors of some of the most important universities in our country.

Since you have been involved for a long time in the concept of these meetings at the Bucharest National Opera House, how would you describe the experience of participating and organizing these conferences?

If I were to synthetize what The stage of thought means, I would say: it means dialogue, knowledge and emotions. This was made possible by the involvement and enthusiasm of the General Director of the Bucharest National Opera House, the conductor Daniel Jinga, by the excellent collaboration that we had with our media partners at TVR Cultural, and by the whole enthusiastic team behind the scenes, as well as the artists who have always provided musical moments during our meetings, as will be the case on Tuesday, the 26^th of March, when the dialogue I will have with the three rectors will be accompanied by a series of musical moments performed by artists of the Bucharest National Opera House.

What is the purpose of these conferences? Do you think it has been achieved so far?

The purpose of cultural events is to create a space for dialogue, to bring different perspectives together, to offer alternative ways of thinking to what pop culture offers, to raise certain questions in a world that is full of certainties - and many certainties are very easy. And when it comes to how we've managed to approach all of these goals, I think we're on the right track.

What other conferences are scheduled until the end of the season?

On the 16^th of April, I will have a dialogue called "Aligned with the world" which is being held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the "New Europe" College and my guests will be Mister Andrei Pleșu and Miss Valentina Sandu-Dediu. We will discuss research, what it means to build a high-performance institution, an institute of advanced studies that can rival many other similar institutions in the world. And finally, we will talk about what it means to be aligned with the world, about intellectual and cultural synchronisation and many other related topics.