On Saturday, November 1st, the Royal Camerata will open the new season with a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum. The main conductor and founder of the ensemble, Constantin Grigore, was glad to provide us with more details.

Mr. Constantin Grigore, the Royal Camerata will open a new edition of the royal season on Saturday, November 1st. How would you describe the atmosphere of the rehearsals and the energy of the ensemble during the preparation period?

We are now at the 14th edition of the royal season, which we await with great excitement, as always. Mayumi Kanagawa is a violinist who won the George Enescu International Competition, and she was chosen for the opening of the current new royal season at the Romanian Athenaeum, thus creating a fusion with the Enescu Competition. Kanagawa will perform Camille Saint-Saens' Concerto No. 3 for this edition, the piano concert through which she won the Enescu Competition in 2024. So, it's a beautiful programme that shall end with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

How important are these collaborations with young musicians who have proven their worth in well-known competitions?

The Royal Camerata has always given Romanian and foreign young people alike the opportunity to perform alongside established artists on national and international stages, and it is always a joy to see young musicians who can join the Royal Camerata and together to send the audience the energy that we always want to share with the public.

A French artist from the young generation of conductors named David Molar Soriano will conduct the Royal Camerata on Saturday's concert. How did this collaboration come to be?

Simply put, David is no stranger to the stages of Bucharest and Romania more widely, as he had conducted during this year's George Enescu International Festival, during which we got in touch at the time. We have extended him an invitation, and he gladly agreed to join us for this opening concert of a season that extend onto the month of May next year with many other interesting concerts.

You are one of the three co-founders of the Royal Camerata. How would you describe the ensemble's journey from its inception to the present day?

This December marks our 16th anniversary of a journey filled with many and diverse feelings. We've always tried to bring classical music closer to the public through these concerts at the Romanian Athenaeum, to be visible, and to appeal to as many wide audiences as possible through our concerts, festivals, and projects that we take part in.

What's in store for the Royal Camerata in the aftermath of the Athenaeum concert?

The next concert will be our traditional Christmas concert that's called "White Christmas", which will take place on the 20^th of December at the Romanian Athenaeum and it will feature the well-known violinist Alexandru Tomescu, who will perform Romanian carols conducted by maestro Dan Dediu.

We will follow-up in January with a concert that shall feature Ludwig van Beethoven's Concerto No. 3 and Concerto No. 5 for piano and orchestra to the public, during which the pianist and conductor Andrei Licareț will be present and perform himself.

And lastly, we will have violinist Liviu Prunaru as our special guest for the traditional concert hosted on May 10th, during which he shall delight the audience with a very interesting programme which I hope you would be willing to attend.