On Wednesday, March 12th, 2025, the Radio Academic Choir, conducted by Ciprian Țuțu, will hold a special anniversary concert celebrating 85 years since the ensemble's founding. The event will bring Romanian evergreen hits to the stage of Sala Radio in a unique form: a cappella. In anticipation of this special occasion, Ciprian Țuțu sat down for an interview with Ioana Țintea.

Ciprian Țuțu, the Radio Academic Choir is celebrating 85 years of uninterrupted artistic activity. How do you see this milestone for the ensemble, which you have led since 2016?

It's wonderful. Everything that happens at the conductor's podium with this invaluable ensemble is both exciting and challenging. Our work is incredibly diverse and rich, spanning vocal-symphonic repertoire, premieres, rarely performed works, as well as a cappella projects and recordings. This entire mix requires dedication and effort, but it is also a source of great joy. We are fully living these moments of our celebration.

Over the past 85 years, the Radio Academic Choir has produced an impressive number of recordings, now part of the Radio's archive. How do you see the future of this sonic heritage and the ensemble's role in continuing this tradition?

It is both our duty and our joy to continue this work, enriching the archive with recordings that will bring joy to future generations. Perhaps in recent years, our focus has shifted more toward live performances than it once was, with recording sessions taking a relatively smaller share of our activity. Nonetheless, we look forward to new challenges with enthusiasm.

Turning to the upcoming anniversary concert at Sala Radio, titled Echoes from the Past, this event will feature classic Romanian hits reinterpreted in an a cappella arrangement. How did this idea come to life?

The heart of this project is our colleague Ioan Dobrinescu. Around 2007, in a discussion about how we could bring something fresh to the field, we explored ways to reinvent choral music-both for younger audiences and to showcase the choir's versatility. That was when the first seeds of this project were planted. The timing felt perfect: this is an anniversary concert, it takes place at the beginning of spring, right after the celebrations of women and love. We found it entirely fitting to embrace this theme, hoping to evoke emotions in as many listeners as possible.

Let's take a behind-the-scenes look. How did the choir members respond to this new repertoire, and how are rehearsals going? What's the atmosphere like?

The atmosphere is, as always, excellent and enjoyable. At first glance, this repertoire might seem easy, but in reality, it is incredibly challenging. The difficulty lies in the fact that all the elements we associate with these well-known hits-arrangements, instrumental textures-must now be conveyed solely through vocal performance. This poses a unique set of challenges, as we need to replace various instrumental colors using only our voices. Additionally, the arrangements, skillfully and elegantly orchestrated by Mr. Dobrinescu, are far from simple; they demand intense effort from us. However, I hope and aim for each piece to tell a story. Moreover, the concert will feature Anca Romeci, who will provide insights into the history of Romanian light music, helping immerse the audience in the atmosphere of the songs we perform. We also have a special guest-Luiza Zan, a highly acclaimed jazz vocalist. Lastly, to enhance the visual and theatrical aspect of our performance, students from the acting class led by Professor Ruxandra Ionescu will join us, adding a lively and humorous touch to some of the pieces.

What other projects are in store for this anniversary season of the Radio Academic Choir?

We are already at our second anniversary concert. Last November, we held an exceptionally challenging performance featuring Romantic and Post-Romantic music, celebrating various Austrian and German composers.

For the upcoming fall, we are planning a concert inspired by folklore, presented in an unconventional format with a carefully curated repertoire. We will share more details at the right time.

Alongside these anniversary a cappella projects, our vocal-symphonic activity remains substantial. During the Easter season, we will perform Brahms' Requiem alongside the National Radio Orchestra, followed by Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with the Radio Chamber Orchestra immediately after Easter. Later, during the International Week of New Music, we will perform Requiem by Ștefan Niculescu, a piece we are very excited to bring to the stage. We will conclude the season with Carmina Burana, a truly spectacular work.