The most important achievements of 2012, were celebrated at the Odeon Theatre yesterday, 18^th March, starting at 7.00 p.m., during the Radio Romania Cultural Awards Gala. The event has already established itself as a mirror of the Romanian cultural world. The 13^th edition had eight awards. During the gala hosted by actor Vlad Ivanov, personalities in science and education, fine arts, theatre, film, music, fiction and poetry were acknowledged.

'…I would like to congratulate all of tonight's nominees. To receive or not to receive the award is up to the jury, I think. To be nominated is a great honour…' - stated conductor Tiberiu Soare, the winner of the Music section. '…All my regards go to the people I work with every day. In their own way, each of them has something important to say in their field, and I'm referring to the members of the Radio Orchestra and Choir. It is extraordinary that they still equally support all forms of culture, in any field you can think of…' - Tiberiu Soare added. He is an important personality of Romanian music, the main conductor of the Radio Music Bands and he is a musician with praiseworthy achievements in the lyrical, symphonic and vocal-symphonic genres. The jury members who were notable intellectuals of the Romanian Cultural life: writers Titus Vâjeu, Bogdan Ghiu, Valentin Protopopescu and Dorin Liviu Bâtfoi, director Attila Vizauer and musicologist Oltea Şerban Pârâu, chose the winners, nominating, among others, the following: Ion Caramitru - the general manager of the I. L. Caragiale Bucharest National Theatre, in the Theatre section, Cristian Mungiu, the director of 'Beyond the Hills', painter Gheorghe Anghel in the Fine Arts section, Dan Suciu for the volume 'Poezii naive şi sentimentale', writer Florina Ilis - for the novel 'Vieţile paralele', physicist Nicolae Zamfir in the Science section. Five special awards were given during the gala; tenor Bogdan Mihai was given the 'In Memoriam Iosif Sava' Award for his performances in a few important Rossini productions: 'Aureliano in Palmira' and 'Adelaide di Borgogna'. From Amsterdam, tenor Bogdan Mihai expressed his gratitude:

'… It is an award that justifies a lot of what I have managed to do in Romania and abroad so far. The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company is the only institution in Romania that has supported me since I left the country and I have always returned happily for vocal-symphonic concerts…'

Another absent laureate was famous director Andrei Şerban, who received the 'Lux Mundi' Award for his productions at the Iasi Opera with 'Les Indes Galantes' by Jean-Philippe Rameau and 'The Trojan Women' by Elizabeth Swados. Andrei Şerban declared from New York:

'… Although I admit I can be naïve to think theatre can save the world, I have the proof that theatre of a certain quality can influence the few or the many who wish to receive and taste another kind of food; recent proof is the remarkable experience I had in Iasi when I worked on 'Les Indes Galantes' and 'The Trojan Women'. The extraordinary enthusiasm and energy that I felt when I worked there, as well as the vivid and spontaneous reaction of the audience, imbued me with a good dose of youth and ardour…'

Beatrice Rancea, the manager of the Iasi Romanian National Opera, received his award stating: '… The artists from Iasi have told me that after their meeting with Andrei Şerban their lives changed. It is exactly the feeling that I had 22 years ago. Indeed, meeting Andrei Şerban is a life-changing experience, and you can't help but think you had the chance to stay next to a genius…'

The last award - the Excellence Award of the Radio Romania Cultural Awards Gala - was given to writer Şerban Foarţă. We must also mention the musicians - Cristian Soleanu (saxophone), George Natsis (piano), Adrian Mircea Flautistu (double bass and bass guitar), Vlad Popescu (drums) and Nadia Trohin (soloist).