"Sonimagicon is a magical realm," says Diana Rotaru, the festival's artistic director.

Tonight's guest is composer Diana Rotaru, the artistic director of one of Romania's most prominent events dedicated to contemporary music - the Meridian International Festival. Good evening! Welcome to the Radio România Muzical studio!

Good evening and thank you for having me!

Diana, first of all, let's take a brief look back. You have been the festival's artistic director since 2019, correct?

Since 2019, alongside an incredible team including Irinel Anghel, Gabriel Mălăncioiu, Alexandru Murariu, and Constantin Basica. We are all composers, united by a passion for innovation and whimsical curiosities, so we have really bonded as a team and as a family even.

Since then, the festival seems to have taken on a new identity and substance. In 2019, we had Sonic Gardens, followed by the pandemic pause, Planetarium in 2021, Atlas in 2022, and last year's Persona, an exploration of masks and the post-pandemic period. How has the Meridian Festival evolved for you and your team? Are you feeling this change?

We are all event organizers. Both Gabriel Murariu and Alex Mălăncioiu lead ensembles, Irinel produces spectacular shows, and Costin Basica is equally phenomenal. So, we approach event organization like composing, with the same heart and drive to create great concerts that are equally rich, even semantically juicy and captivating to the audience.

From a substantial point of view, previous festival directors also delivered extraordinary events. Where we've added value is in the conceptual and promotional aspects. This has certainly increased the festival's visibility.

We must mention that last year, the Meridian Festival won the Radio Romania Cultural Award in the music section, an indisputable recognition of its value. Does this honor come with the pressure of an elevated level of expectation from the audience?

It is, first and foremost, an honor - truly! It's uplifting that such an esteemed award was given to an event focused on niche, contemporary music. It's not pressure, but rather joy and proof that our efforts have resonated with people. We continue with the same enthusiasm and commitment to find rich themes, like this year's Sonimagicon. Our team aims to propose another two editions under the same theme.

So, this year's edition is called Sonimagicon. You mentioned in an interview, and I quote: "I believe the Meridian Festival's mission is to offer a buffet of sounds to attract the widest possible audience." Will Meridian 2024 maintain this desideratum, this goal?

Yes, absolutely! On one hand, from the title alone, it's clear that we aim to bridge music with the visual arts in all their forms. We'll have film concerts, live painting performances, concerts with video projections, animations, dance, and even unique instruments that provide a visual surprise to traditional audiences, such as the gamelan or tulnic horns in the parking lot. I'm particularly excited about this performance - a quartet of tulnic horns performing in the small underground parking lot of the National University of Music in Bucharest! Though the festival leans towards experimental, fresh music, the type that tries to ram its head into the boundaries of the mainstream, we offer a range of styles that can appeal to almost everyone. From "serious"compositions to jazz-rock concerts, traditional "serious" double bass, electronic double bass with synthesizers, gamelan, percussion concerts, and many more. And I'm convinced that the audience will definitely find something to connect with.

I noticed there's even music performed on glass or paper?

Indeed! Some exceptional performers from the Netherlands will showcase - and this must be mentioned - for the first time in 30 years a beautiful composition by Liviu Dănceanu (who would have turned 70 this year) called Glass Music. The artists are playing different glass objects throughout this piece - I won't tell what kind of objects. The public will have to come and discover for themselves.

As far as I've seen in your program, there are 32 events packed into eight intense days. I'd like you to tell us if, during these eight days, the projects - because I wouldn't simply call them concerts, as they combine both sound and visuals - are happening individually across the four centers or if they run concurrently, with concerts exclusive for Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, or Iași in addition to Bucharest?

Unfortunately, we had to stick to this structure, where events overlap. There will be daily concerts in Bucharest from the 3^rd to the 10^th of November, and from the 3^rd to the 5^th, concerts in the other three key cities: Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, and Iași. Since 2019, we've beenpushing to somehow expand, to decentralizethis festival, bringing it out of Bucharest and into other cities. We've managed partially, but we will not stop here.

Where will these events take place? Could you give us some reference points?

In Bucharest, for example, many events will be held in a space that's very close to my heart, as I also teach there. I'm talking about the so-called Conservatory, the National University of Music - a very welcoming space that is always highly supportive of contemporary musicians and especially of Romanian music. I extend my thanks to rector Diana Moș once again for everything she does for us!

The opening event is something I'm eagerly awaiting. It's called New Grooves, Old Mov(i)es, a title coined by one of our younger team members, George Păiș. (Sonimagicon, however, was titled by Gabriel Mălăncioiu - so we have some important godparents!) This event features experimental short films from the early 20^th century, accompanied by very, very fresh music, newly commissioned by the Romanian Cultural Institute. What's especially unique about this project is that the festival opens simultaneously - on the same day, at the same time, in all four centers.

And, of course, with different programs!

Different programs, of course. Unfortunately, we're not yet able to teleport…

There's also a symposium section, right?

Yes, there's a symposium called Roots, which I hope to continue over the next two years. It's dedicated to a generation of Romanian composers who propelled Romanian composition to international prominence. This includes, first and foremost, my mentor Ștefan Niculescu, as well as Tiberiu Olah, Aurel Stroe, and Anatol Vieru, along with other exceptionally interesting composers who, I hope, will gain greater recognition internationally during my lifetime. They truly deserve it!

So, what does Sonimagicon actually mean?

Sonimagicon is a magical realm. For those who've seen the graphic design, there's a queen, imagined by the exceptional visual artist Ioana Buraga. She's the queen of Sonimagicon, where the senses intertwine - where the eye hears, the ear sees... The word itselfobviously fuses sound, image, magic, and the word iconic. This was the fabulous idea of Gabriel Mălăncioiu, and I think it fits perfectly with this November setting, where we aim to warm the spirits with strange but highly delightful music.

Well, at the very least, the poster certainly stands out. Could you elaborate on this trilogy you mentioned earlier? How was it conceived? You announced this as the first edition and that there will be two more, blending sound with visuals. What do you have in mind for the coming years? Being a composer, I imagine you see this as a complete work, right?

I do. But even when I'm composing, I like to keep some mystery and hold back a little surprise. Of course, we already have some incredible artists, both from abroad and from Romania, somewhat planned out. I have a project with the visual artist Ioana Buraga, who I just mentioned - she has an absolutely phenomenal visual imagination! And Sonimagicon will come to life in unexpected ways, not just on paper.

We'll keep exploring these concepts, all of which I hold dear. For instance, this year we have a fusion of concert and fashion presentation, which will be led by Adriana Toacsen, an exceptional pianist and fierce ambassador of Romanian and contemporary music. The event is called Haute Piano Couture and takes place at Romanian Cultural Institute Hall on Wednesday, the 6^th of November.

Another concept I think we can continue to explore is live painting, the idea of performance, and the boundless imagination of Irinel Anghel, who has a show with mirror-artists, reflecting both themselves and those around them.

And cine-concerts… although these have grown in popularity recently, it remains a genre that challenges young composers to step outside their creative comfort zones. Typically, at the Conservatory, one finds himself sitting with a pencil in hand (or, well, with the fingers on a keyboard, as I'm probably the only one still using a pencil), isolated in an ivory tower to compose. But film music requires a completely different mindset, one of collaboration and ego suppression.

You may not be able to reveal future editions' plans, but tell us about the artists you'd highlight in this edition of Sonimagicon.

Starting from the opening… Trio Larson, a very young ensemble initiated by cellist Mircea Marian, whom I consider an absolute standout in Romania, at least. The percussion ensemble PULSAR(T). Also, renowned figures like Dan Dediu - president of the UCMR - and Diana Moș, rector of the National University of Music, who will also perform as soloists, accompanied by a percussion ensemble. Then there's Adriana Toacsen. A lied recital by Stanca Manoleanu and Mihai Murariu. The devotio Moderna ensemble… and that's just in Bucharest. Duo Hesperus on guitars, Ewa Liebchen and Emilia Sitarz from Poland with a concert dedicated to Polish sonorism - a composition technique focusing on textures and colors that flourished in the '60s and '70s. What they'll perform is almost a homage to this powerful movement. We also have two video operas via the Cervantes Institute, which are absolutely fantastic! ICon Arts ensemble, Vasarely Duo from Italy, Jepun Bali gamelan ensemble, and again, a concert featuring tulnic horns, ProfilEnsemble, and Opening Theory - our dear friends who couldn't be left out.

In other cities, we have Couleurs Ensemble performing in Cluj, AdHOC Ensemble, Atem Ensemble in Timișoara… an extraordinary double bassist, Arthur Balogh, who doesn't just play double bass, but also synthesizers, electric guitar, and several other instruments. And in Iași, there are three consecutive concerts - the Ars Poetica Ensemble from Chișinău and two ensembles from the Iași University of Arts.

We're truly delighted, and I'm a bit disappointed teleportation hasn't been invented yet so I could jump from city to city… but maybe next year.

Or maybe after each festival, there should be some kind of recording available of these performances for wider access, allowing those interested to watch them, whether they're from Iași, Bucharest, or anywhere else in Romania or the world.

Absolutely! Let's hope the sponsors are listening!

So, the public is invited to see, listen, feel, and enjoy. Will any of your own works be featured in Sonimagicon?

Honestly, I always find it incredibly difficult to program one of my own pieces. This time, I'll admit, Mr. Dan Dediu scheduled a piece of mine in the Profil Ensemble concert, a duo performed by Diana Moș and Mircea Marian. I mean, what more could one want? Two absolutely phenomenal performers!

Diana Rotaru, I wish you and the entire Meridian Sonimagicon organizing team the best of luck with this edition. Radio România Muzical will keep listeners updated, and by the end of the festival, I hope we can conclude that the Romanian public has grown even closer to new music than ever before.

I hope so, too! We'll keep pushing for this because it's truly dear to us, and I believe audiences will come to cherish it as well.