Since 2021, spring has also meant the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) Gala for me. I have been a member of the jury since December 2019. The 2020 gala was scheduled to take place in Seville but was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. Vaduz (2021), Luxembourg (2022), Wroclaw (2023), Valencia (2024), Düsseldorf (2025) and Bamberg (2026) have hosted the ICMA galas. In 2027, for the first time in the history of these awards, known as the Oscars of classical music, the gala will be held in Romania. On April 9th, 2027, Cluj will host the event, organised by the Transylvania Philharmonic, with Radio România Muzical serving as co-producer and official audio broadcaster.

Behind the Scenes of the ICMA Jury

The day of the gala is always special. However, I thought it might be a good idea to give you a glimpse of what happens before the gala, which represents only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the work of the ICMA jury. For the 2026 edition of the awards, the jury received approximately 400 productions on CD and DVD, released between November 1st 2024 and October 31st 2025. By the end of October 2025, each jury member had to nominate ten of their favourite titles in each of the 16 categories: 14 audio and two video. Any production proposed by at least two jury members was considered a jury nomination and announced as such. Three further rounds of voting followed, with each jury member voting independently and assigning points to each production, in order to select the finalists and, ultimately, the winner in each category. The jury also proposes and jointly selects the production that will receive the title of Album of the Year. In 2026, this award went to Shostakovich Discoveries, an album featuring an extensive line-up of performers, including Romanian pianist Daniel Ciobanu.

However, the awards for audio and video productions are not the only distinctions presented by the ICMA jury. There are also approximately ten special awards, some of which are proposed and voted on by jury members, including Young Artist of the Year and Composer of the Year. The Discovery Award and the Claseek Young Artist of the Year award, two further distinctions for young musicians, are proposed by ICMA partners, namely the Swiss platform Claseek and the Liechtenstein Academy, and voted on by the jury. The Lifetime Achievement and Artist of the Year awards are proposed by the jury board. All musicians selected for the special awards must attend the laureates gala and perform during the event.

I would like to recall that Sebastian Androne-Nakanishi was named Composer of the Year in 2022, while soprano Aida Pascu received the Young Artist of the Year award in 2024. I proposed both artists, in my capacity as the Romanian member of the jury.

Bamberg

Every year, all of us on the jury eagerly await the ICMA awards ceremony and gala concert. They represent recognition of the work carried out throughout the year and, more than that, recognition of the work of music journalists in general. The jury members represent 20 publications and radio stations from across Europe, and all are specialised music journalists. What distinguishes the ICMA jury is precisely its strictly professional approach, free from any interference driven by marketing. I was particularly struck by the words of this year's jury president, Remy Franck, editor-in-chief of the respected Luxembourg publication Pizzicato. He pointed out that these awards recognise productions that continue to appeal to the higher dimensions of human emotion and intellect, rather than those concerned solely with entertainment.

On the 18th of March 2026, the ICMA gala was hosted by the Bamberg Symphony, a prestigious ensemble that was also celebrating its 80th anniversary and received a special ICMA award in recognition of its work. Today, the Bamberg Symphony is one of the finest orchestras in Germany, with a programme that includes concert seasons, recordings, tours and collaborations with prestigious conductors who have shaped its history. For the past ten years, its chief conductor has been the Czech musician Jakub Hrůša, who received the ICMA 2026 Artist of the Year award. Much loved by audiences, he also received the highest cultural distinction awarded by Bavaria on this occasion.

The awards ceremony consists of two parts: the presentation of the awards and the gala concert. Over the course of two hours, jury president Remy Franck and jury secretary Nicola Catto delivered laudatory speeches during the presentations and kept the atmosphere lively, while we, the jury members, presented the awards. Personally, I presented the awards in the Premieres Recordings and Video Opera categories.

The ceremony opened with a festive and moving tribute to the hosts. Taking advantage of the presence in the audience of renowned American soprano Melody Moore, who now lives in Cluj, we all joined her in singing Happy Birthday to the Bavarian orchestra.

One by one, musicians and representatives of record labels took to the stage to receive their awards and express their gratitude or share their thoughts. There was also a musical interlude performed by pianist Andrei Korobeinikov, who appears on the album Shostakovich Discoveries. I also took note of Jakub Hrůša encouragement to view recorded music productions as a means of promoting live concerts in concert halls. I was delighted when Silvia Sbârciu, manager of the Transylvania Philharmonic in Cluj, and Loredana Vălean, its marketing director, presented a video about Cluj, the future host of the ICMA awards. The presentation inspired many of those present to visit Cluj next year and discover that Romania is truly much more than the land of Dracula.

The Gala Concert

The gala concert began at 8 pm in the beautiful hall of the Bamberg Orchestra, a modern building inaugurated in 1993. The event was recorded by the Bavarian classical music broadcaster BR Klassik and presented by one of its hosts. Deutsche Welle provided a live audio and video broadcast on its YouTube channel, and the recording can be watched here.

The rostrum was occupied by Moldovan violinist Ilian Gârneț. Now 43, Gârneț won third prize in 2009 at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, one of the most demanding violin competitions in the world. He has been concertmaster of the Bamberg Symphony for eight years, which already says a great deal about the quality of the orchestra.

In a fitting tribute to tradition, the musical programme opened and closed with two works by Beethoven. On the 20th of March 1946, at the orchestra inaugural concert, these same two works had featured in the programme: the Leonore Overture No. 3 and the final movement of the Symphony No. 7. The orchestra demonstrated its exceptional quality particularly in the overture: homogeneity, precision and unity of attack, and musical intelligence. It was a cohesive yet highly flexible organism, with a sound that filled the hall and a powerful message that reached everyone in the packed audience. Jakub Hrůša conducted the entire concert. Much loved by his orchestra, he proved to be an efficient and highly musical conductor.

Then I listened to violist Nils Mönkemeyer in the first movement of Béla Bartók's Viola Concerto. Mönkemeyer is one of the performers featured on Shostakovich Discoveries, which won the 2026 ICMA award in the Premiere Recordings category and was named Album of the Year.

The programme continued with two excerpts from the oratorio Passio by Peter Zombola, the 2026 Composer of the Year. Aged 43, Zombola is currently a professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He is particularly interested in monumental works in the vocal-symphonic genre. His music remains within the realm of consonance, offering a meditative reflection on themes of great importance to humanity.

As LSO Live, the record label of the London Symphony Orchestra, was named Label of the Year, the orchestras concertmaster, Roman Simovic, was chosen to perform the third movement of Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. His interpretation was full of energy and, I would say, had a touch of humour.

In the Contemporary Music category, one of the two award-winning albums featured music by Finnish composer Kalevi Aho. Two excerpts featuring Sharon Bezaly on flute and Hiyoli Togawa on viola marked this award.

The 2026 Discovery Award went to violinist Mariam Abouzahra. Aged 17, the young musician was born in Germany to parents of Hungarian and Egyptian origin. She is an interesting emerging artist, although she still needs further artistic development to perform Brahms Violin Concerto at a high level. At the gala, she performed its third movement.

In the Concertos category, the ICMA award went to an album by Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda, featuring rarely performed concertos from the Italian repertoire, including the Piano Concerto by Silvio Omizzolo. An excerpt from this concerto, composed by a musician who lived from 1905 to 1991, was performed at the gala. It is music that certainly deserves to be better known.

The Vocal Music category was represented by its award winner, Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho. Her album features songs by Gaetano Donizetti and is the fifth volume in the Opera Rara series. At the gala, Jaho and Roberto Prosseda performed Lamento per la morte di Bellini.

One of the gala highlights was the performance by vocal ensemble Amarcord, which received the ICMA award in the Early Music category. A German counterpart to the famous vocal group The King Singers, Amarcord performed a five-part motet by Josquin des Prez and a German folk song. The ensemble impressed with its beautiful, highly expressive voices, engaging stage presence and great authenticity.

The recipient of the Claseek Young Artist of the Year award, pianist Anthony Ratinov, performed the final movement of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. An American artist of Russian descent, Ratinov has won several major international competitions. However, he had never performed the Tchaikovsky concerto before, and this was noticeable during the gala.

The Beethoven finale, with the last movement of his Symphony No. 7, was a fitting and festive conclusion to the gala concert, which lasted almost three hours. I would like to congratulate the organisers: everything unfolded in an atmosphere of professionalism and cordiality, qualities that seem increasingly difficult to find nowadays.

Close to midnight, I crossed the River Regnitz on my way back to the hotel and once again reflected on the beauty of a river surrounded by vibrant nature, with banks lined by vegetation and left free of concrete embankments. Bamberg remains one of Germany most captivating cities, preserving the beauty of its medieval heritage and its Bavarian character. This includes the so-called Little Venice along the banks of the River Regnitz. Everything feels authentic, as Bamberg was spared the bombing that devastated many cities during the Second World War.

From the charm of Bavaria to that of Transylvania: on the 9th of April 2027, we will meet again in Cluj for the International Classical Music Awards Gala, broadcast live on Radio România Muzical!