Mr. Ovidiu Andriș, the 49^th edition of the "Timișoara Musical" Festival takes place between May 2nd and 30th, 2025, during which the city of Timișoara will host no fewer than 25 events. What was the public's reaction at the previous edition, and how would you describe the importance of this festival in the musical landscape of Timișoara?

I'll start with this year's edition, which is fascinating, and I'm very glad that, together with the Romanian National Opera from Timișoara, we can organize this festival. Last year's edition was an extremely memorable one, and we were pleased to have a large audience. Thisyear's edition includes, as you mentioned, 25 events, among which there are 11 symphonic concerts, 6 recitals, and 8 opera performances.

This festival is of great importance for Timișoara not only because we have a collaboration with the Arad Philharmonic, but also because it creates different connections between all the musical institutions from town. It's a celebration of music, or as we call it, a "spring ritual", if we were to refer to it in terms ofclassical music, where, together with these two musical gems of Timișoara, the "Banatul" Philharmonic and the Romanian National Opera from Timișoara, we bring the most significant artists on the stage, as we gather to celebrate this festival, which next year wil lreach its 50^th edition.

What were the main criteria you considered when putting together the schedule for the current edition?

As it is a celebration of the city of Timișoara, we wanted to bring together the city's musical institutions, namely the Philharmonic, the Romanian National Opera from Timișoara, the Faculty of Music and Theatre, and the "Ion Vidu" Arts High School. Our purpose was to organize events of high artistic quality, to offer a wide variety of performances, to reach out to different venues for concerts, and of course, to continue the excellent collaboration with the Arad Philharmonic for the concerts on May 16^th in Timișoara and on May 15^th in Arad, featuring Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, conducted by Sascha Goetzel (our conductor-in-residence) with the soloists Svetlana Stoyanova, Yaroslav Abaimov, Petri Lindroos, Lucian Onița, and Virginia Maria Onița.

I can also tell you that onTuesday, May 6^th, at 7:00 PM, the Bucharest Percussion Ensemble will give a beautiful percussion recital here in Timișoara. We are very happy to have them here with us. On May 8^th, the Moldo Crescendo Ensemble together with Iulian Druțac, Constantin Borodin, and Marcel Lazăr will perform at the "Mihai Perian" Hall of the "Ion Vidu" Arts High School. The symphonic concert on May 9^th will be conducted by Aleksandar Markovic, with the violinist Florin Iliescu as soloist, and will include works by Brahms and Bruch. On May 11^th, we will host the "Jazz Meets Sympho" project with the National Youth Orchestra of Moldova. Moving on, on May 15^th, the Romanian String Quartet will perform some Romanian works by Sabin Drăgoi and Mihail Andricu at the National Museum of Art in Timișoara. On May 17^th we will get the opportunity of listening to the "Transylvanian Dance" album, by Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri. On May 19^th, the orchestra of the "Ion Vidu" Arts High School will perform at the Capitol Hall, at 7:00 PM. We will continue with the symphonic concert May 23^th, featruing the conductor Azis Sadikovic and the "Banatul" Philharmonic's artist-in-residence, Bryan Cheng. The program includes Kabalevsky and Shostakovich. On May 29^th, the "Liszt Ferenc" Chamber Orchestra from Budapest, with the artistic director Istvan Vardai, a very important international figure,will perform at the Capitol Hall, at 7:00 PM. We look forward to hearing works by Dvořák, Bartók, and Liszt. And on May 30^th, the festival's closing will feature an extraordinary violinist, namely Vadim Gluzman, performing for the first time in Timișoara, alongside the Ukrainian conductor Mykola Diadiura. The program includes works by Vasks, Saint-Saëns, and Respighi.