The MUSICRIT Awards Gala for the year 2025, organized by the Union of Music Critics, Editors and Producers of Romania, will take place on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026, starting at 7:00 PM, at the Romanian Athenaeum. Luminița Arvunescu, President of UCRRM, spoke about the awards that will be presented, the musical moments, and the evolution over time of this project, in an interview conducted by Cristina Cîrjan.

The Musicrit Awards Gala has its 4th edition. Looking back how has this project evolved and what place do you believe it occupies today in the Romanian classical music area?

That is correct, we have the 4th edition, which will take place on January 14 at the beginning of next year. Looking back, I would say that the Musicrit Awards Gala honored over 30 Romanian personalities and institutions. The highest distinction the Musicrit Trophy was awarded to the Violoncellissimo Ensemble for 2022, the "Madrigal by Marin Constantin" National Chamber Choir for 2023, and conductor Cristian Mandeal for 2024.

Also throughout these editions, artists such as violinist Alexandru Tomescu, cellist Andrei Ioniță, soprano Anita Hartig, mezzo-soprano Judith Kutasi, baritones Mihai Damian and Ionuț Pascu, bass Alexander Kopeczi, the "Musica Ricercata" Ensemble and the Romanian Youth Orchestra have performed, the latter being our partner in supporting the musical program.

In other words, I believe I can say that our gala has already created a platform for recognition, dialogue and inspiration for musicians and has the merit of bringing together elites because at this gala there are always present personalities not only from the musical field, but also from the diplomatic sphere for example, representatives of the Ministry of Culture, leaders of national artistic institutions, prominent figures of Romania's public and cultural life.

I am very proud of how we evolved up to this point, because we have become a platform for recognition, dialogue and inspiration for musicians, and we brought together elites from all fields.

The MUSICRIT Awards reward excellence in numerous forms of expression of classical music, from performance to music criticism and management. What new elements does the upcoming edition bring regarding the awards presented?

The upcoming edition brings a special jury award, in addition to the 10 already traditional categories such as music criticism, management, discography, musical projects, best lyrical season and best symphonic season in the country, festival of the year, young journalist of the year, lyrical artist and instrumentalist of the year. The novelty is therefore this special award that we will grant for the year 2025.

The gala also has musical moments performed by the Romanian Youth Orchestra, conducted by Cristian Mandeal, as well as guests appearing for the first time within the MUSICRIT Gala, from soprano Melody Moore to the Arcadia Quartet. What can you tell us about this component of the event?

It was essential. From the first edition that I conceived, I told myself that we cannot talk about music and honor excellence in music without first giving the floor to music and musicians. Indeed, the musical program of the current edition features, as usual, artists and musical ensembles of international value, which you have already mentioned: sopranos Melody Moore and Paula Iancic, mezzo-sopranos Roxana Constantinescu and Ramona Zaharia, pianist Viniciu Moroianu, the Arcadia Quartet and, last but not least, the Radio Academic Choir, which will perform together with the Romanian Youth Orchestra, the latter being our partner in organizing the MUSICRIT Awards Gala.

Tickets will be available starting December 30th. Who is this edition of the MUSICRIT Gala addressed to and what impression do you expect this event to leave on the audience?

At our gala, I expect all lovers of music, cultural personalities because, as I said earlier, it has somehow become our tradition to invite personalities of Romanian culture. We expect as large an audience as possible in order to celebrate not only excellence and performance in the fields of classical music, but also National Culture Day. That is why we wanted the MUSICRIT Awards Gala to take place annually on January 14th, precisely to celebrate National Culture Day in advance, and the venue is not chosen by chance: the Romanian Athenaeum, a hall symbolic of Romanian cultural identity.