Radio România organizes during this period the 4th edition of the International Competition "Orchestra's Conductor". The final stage of the competition takes place from Friday, May 9th, 2025, at the Radio Hall and ends with a concert on the stage of the institution on Wednesday, May 14th, 2025. We find out more details from conductor Cristian Orosanu, the initiator of the project, in an interview with Ioana Țintea.

Mr. Cristian Oroșanu, we are approaching the final of Orchestra's Competition, a unique project in the Romanian musical landscape. How did this initiative come about?

It's a project I've been thinking about for a few years, maybe even 10 years, and which I started 4 years ago. At the Brasov Philharmonic was the first edition. And I was thinking about this project because I noticed during my career - both as a candidate for international competitions and as a jury member later, when I got older - that not always what a jury chooses is the opinion of the orchestra. And then, I wanted to create a democratic concept in which orchestra musicians would be encouraged to choose themselves the candidates who reach the final, the winners of the competition, and depending on the possibilities of that orchestra, we could invite them in the following seasons to that host orchestra that year. And I say this because every year we move to a different orchestra - it's an itinerant project. The fourth edition is happening in Bucharest, at the Radio Chamber Orchestra, I am very glad. And starting next year, we will also get out of the country. We already have managers from other countries interested in our project and practically any orchestra in the world that agrees with this concept can collaborate with us, with our association, which organizes for about nine months before the event that actually happens in a certain place. We can collaborate and take the concept anywhere in the world.

Tell us about the previous steps. How did they unfold?

The first and most important thing is to find an interested orchestra and, depending on the profile of that orchestra, the repertoire is chosen, a soloist - because each conductor in the final will conduct a symphonic piece and a solo piece. That means we have three symphonic pieces and three solo pieces.

All this must be well thought out to fit both as a timing and as a cast in the host orchestra of that year, it must also be about the same as a difficulty to be fair to all three. All this happens 9-10 months before the event.

Then, the next edition is presented on our website, registrations are opened and then all the communication, marketing, people sign up. There is a first stage with video, because a lot of people apply - between 150 and 200 conductors from all over the world to our competition, at least so far.

And how many were there this year?

170 were this year. And they must be selected although the concept is made in such a way that there is no external jury, but the jury is represented by the members of the host orchestra itself. In the first phase, the one that is not actually physical, on the spot, there is a pre-selection jury and each year it consists of the manager of the host orchestra, if he is a musician (if not, then a representative of the host orchestra, the concermaster, the conductor or the musical director, etc.), the president of the competition, that is me, and an external guest who is not related either to us or to the host orchestra. I generally invite conducting professors from major institutions around the world. This year he was the London conducting teacher.

And these three people give some marks. And the first 70-75 are accepted to report on site. In this case, in Bucuerești this year.

We get to the point where we have the second stage of the competition, the physical one, where there are already 70 conductors present in Bucharest at the moment. I think it's maybe the conductors' capital right now. They will appear for 3 days in front of the heads of the Radio Chamber Orchestra. These musicians qualify and the first 12 to be selected in this way will progress to the semi-final. It usually has 3 days, but at the Chamber Orchestra, being the concert on Wednesday, there will be only two days - Monday and Tuesday, each day, 6 conductors. And at this point, the whole orchestra votes, they give notes. We have created an application that is accessed from the phone and there are the names of the candidates with their picture and grades from 1 to 10.

How do musicians view this responsibility?

Very good! I did not expect this project to be so successful both among the conductors who come and present themselves at the competition and among the orchestra musicians who take this responsibility and, in the end, it is also a pleasure. It's like a game.

It's something new, it's happening very well. There is also professional satisfaction from the musicians in the orchestra. It's the same repertoire as the final concert, so that we can work homogeneously and have a very high quality concert. And according to their grades, the top 3 qualify for the final.

The final consists of the general rehearsal and the concert in the evening, and I present live on the internet, so the project is visible all over the world. Who wants, with a link... we also have this possibility.

Tell us about the works!

This year we chose three classical works with soloist (we have pianist Răzvan Dragnea), namely two pieces by Mozart and one by Beethoven for piano and chamber orchestra, and three works from a different historical era, by Wagner, Schumann and Prokofiev.

Several managers from both the country and abroad will participate in the concert, right?

Yes, it is. Since the first edition, we have invited managers from other institutions with two main purposes. First of all, if somehow of the winners are conductors with whom they would like to collaborate, invite them to their seasons - and this has happened almost every edition. And the second reason is that I imagined, and I was right, that these managers might like the concept and want to bring this contest to them. And this is really happening. That is why, at the first two editions, we invited managers only from Romania, and then we also invited from abroad, which makes us already have prospects of leaving the country in the coming years.

The project left Romania because it was my idea and this is where I wanted to start, it was easier for me, but now I want to develop it and get out anywhere in the world. It doesn't matter, you might as well be in Mexico!