Mr. Ioan Dragoș Dimitriu, on the 9th of July the 2nd edition of the competition you initiated in Brașov starts. Tell us, please, some landmarks of the 2018 edition!

The idea of this contest started from the fact that I have often participated in the piano and chamber music competitions and I wanted to create a competition organized  from the competitor’s perspective. I thought about everything to be in the service of the young artists and music: from the contest’s schedule, the piano study time, the relation with the jury members, the awards, to the concerts offered to the winners. We are talking here about fair play and the recognition of the artistic true value. We want to enrich the cultural heritage of Brașov and Romania and to create a Romanian cultural brand visible internationally through social media and live streaming of the D category’s final, Young Artists and of the gala. Besides the contest, we organized a small festival with four concerts where pianists such as Horia Mihail, Corina Ibănescu, Cadmiel Boțac (the winner of the previous edition) and myself included will perform.

How many categories will the contest have this year?

We have four age categories: 7-10 years, 11-14 years, 15-18 years and the last one, 19-28 years. We are pleased to have 35 participants from Russia, Japan, South Korea, Republic of Moldova, China, Australia and Romania.

What can you tell us about the jury members?

I chose them to have a special sense of music because we want to find artists and not necessarily some robots who play technically perfect. This is why I chose Horia Mihail, Antoinette van Zabner from the University of Music in Vienna, Corina Ibănescu from University of Music in Brașov, Ștefan Arnold of University of Music in Vienna and Hanns Eisler University in Berlin and Paolo Baglieri from Brescia, who organizes annually masterclasses with the most famous piano teachers in the world. I would like emphasize that we managed to bring a Bosendorfer 280 Vienna Concerts piano for the competition. It is called 280 because currently has 2.80 meters, one of the best pianos in the world. We also want to keep in touch with all the participants and to watch what they will do in the future. We give them the opportunity to get in touch directly with us and with the jury members on issues concerning their careers.

What does the collaboration with the Radio Romania Music represent for you?

The Radio Romania Music is the most important radio station for Romanian music and not only, also for the international music. The fact that you were with us from the beginning confirms us that we are doing something good in Brașov and we are very proud to have such a partner as Radio Romania Music, which already inspires professionalism and offers to the Romanian audience the best music from all the musical areas. I always listen to you with pleasure. I appreciate the fact that you always present something new and bring out artists and quality music.