On the 12th of April 2024, soprano Aida Pascu will receive the "Young artist of the year" award at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) Gala at the Palau de la Musica in Valencia. It's a remarkable achievement for the 24-year-old soprano - a special prize at one of the most important awards galas in the European cult music industry.

On the 18th of April 2024, the Bucharest public will have the opportunity to listen to Aida Pascu in a recital-event in the emblematic Salon Cerchez of the Cotroceni National Museum. She will be accompanied by pianist Gabriel Gîțan, one of the most talented young Romanian pianists specialising in chamber music, in a programme with the theme "Dream of Love": lieder from great Romanian and universal literature, which speak of the power of music, poetry and love.

The event takes place from 18.00; tickets are available online at www.eventim.ro until April 10th, 2024. Access will be allowed from 16.45-17.45, on the basis of an ID card, according to the access rules of the Cotroceni National Museum.

The event is organised by Radio România Muzical, Artexim and the Cotroceni National Museum, with the support of the Rotary Club Pipera.

As a member of the prestigious International Classical Music Awards jury, Radio România Muzical proposed and supported Aida Pascu's candidacy for the Young artist of the year 2024 award. In 2022, another Romanian proposed and supported by Radio România Muzical won a special prize at the ICMA gala: Sebastian Androne Nakanishi - the "Composer of the year" award. Cristina Comandașu, manager of Radio România Muzical and member of the ICMA jury, will present the recital on the 18th of April 2024 at the Cotroceni National Museum.

Soprano Aida Pascu

Coming from a family of musicians, themselves opera artists, she is one of the most valuable exponents of the young generation trained at the Romanian school of singing. Most recently she could be heard in Bucharest, during the Maria Callas 100 Gala organised as part of the National Radio Orchestra season on the 8th of December 2023. In 2021 and 2022, Aida Pascu took part in the competition for the Heirs of Musical Romania scholarship, organized by Radio România Muzical, where she won concerts with the Radio Chamber Orchestra and the Brașov Philharmonic, which took place in March 2022, as well as a special recording session at Radio România, organized in July 2023.

The jury of the International Classical Music Awards gave the following reasons for awarding the special "Young artist of the year" prize to soprano Aida Pascu: "The young Romanian soprano Aida Pascu, 24 years old, surprises with her beautiful lyric-spinto voice, dark timbre, convincing and mature, as well as a wonderful stage presence: she has everything it takes to become a star of the opera stage. With studies at the National University of Music in Bucharest and masterclass studies with Raina Kabaivanska and Nelly Miricioiu, Aida has won numerous prizes at national and international competitions for young opera performers. In 2023, she made her debut with great success in the title role of Puccini's opera Boema at the Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Bucharest National Opera."

Pianist Gabriel Gîțan

A graduate of the National University of Music in Bucharest, the pianist also participated in the competition for the "Heirs of Musical Romania" scholarship (2021); he was a stage partner, accompanist, for several recitals and recording sessions held as part of the"Heirs of Musical Romania" project, from 2020 to 2023, at the Sala Radio, including for soprano Aida Pascu, at the July 2023 recording session. Most of the recordings made have entered the Radio România Golden Sound Archive.

Gabriel Gîțan is currently a choreographer with the Bucharest National Opera and a choreography teacher at the Bucharest School of Arts No. 2, and is one of the most sought-after young pianists specialising in chamber, vocal and instrumental music.

The "Heirs of Musical Romania" project

...organized by Radio România Muzical and Rotary Club Pipera, has developed in two directions in recent years. The first of these aims to bring to prestigious Romanian stages Romania's young and exceptional musicians, artists who are performing abroad, but whom the Romanian public has the chance to hear too rarely at home. The recitals in this project are aimed at a wide audience, with an accessible repertoire and a duration of one hour, without breaks.

Since 2018 and until now there have been almost 30 concerts and recitals: cellist Andrei Ioniță, violinist Ioana Cristina Goicea, cellist Valentin Răduțiu, pianists Florian Mitrea, Adela Liculescu, Axia Marinescu are just some of the protagonists. Under the aegis of the same project, two albums have been published by Casa Radio Publishing House, including recital performances.

The second direction of development is the "Heirs of Musical Romania" scholarship. In 2020, Radio România Muzical and Rotary Club Pipera have also initiated the "Heirs of Musical Romania" scholarship for young musicians aged between 16 and 24. The winners of the €4000 scholarship were pianist Cadmiel Boțac (2020), cellist Cornelius Zirbo (2021), pianist Kira Frolu (2022) and pianist Nil Mladin (2023).Applications are already open for the 2024 edition, and the scholarship is worth €4,500.

Since 2023, ARTEXIM, a project performance institution under the Ministry of Culture, has joined the organizers Radio România Muzical and Rotary Club Pipera, supporting projects dedicated to young Romanian musicians, winners of the "George Enescu" International Competition. Since 2024, ARTEXIM has been the co-producer of the "Heirs of Musical Romania" concerts.

Media partners: Agerpres, Cariere, Dilema, liternet.ro, news.ro, Observator cultural, Radio România Actualități, Radio România Cultural, Rador, spotmedia.ro, TVR, Zeppelin, Radio România București FM, Rador, HISTORY Channel, HYP TV, Trinitas, Modernism, presadeazi.ro, Ordinea Zilei, PropagArta, București Business.