At the Paul Contantinescu Philharmonic in Ploiești, the 71st season is in full swing. Vlad Mateescu, the manager of the institution, gave us more information about the events scheduled for the next period, but also about the artists who will perform on stage, in a dialogue with Sarah Natsis:

Mr. Vlad Mateescu, how did the year 2024 begin for the "Paul Constantinescu" Philharmonic in Ploiesti and how were the events held so far received by the public?

I know it may sound a bit strange, but it actually started with joy, even with a musical journey in dance steps... but it started with the greatest joy of the fact that slowly, slowly, after the pandemic and even, if we all go through these challenges with regard to the geopolitical issues that surround us, somehow the halls have started to be full again, to go sold out to almost all the concerts and performances, whether we are talking about the symphony orchestra, the folk orchestra, the jazz section and the other sections that the philharmonic has. For us, this is a tremendously good sign. We're getting back to that normality that we've been used to, of actually moving the concerts to larger halls.

On the 11^th of January we started a very good, very fruitful year, a musical journey in dance steps under the baton of Maestro Radu Postăvaru, the conductor of our philharmonic, who is, of course, together with Tiberiu Soare, the permanent guest conductor of the symphony orchestra.

How is the programme of the current season structured for the next period? Do you have anything new in store for music-loving audiences?

There will always be novelties at the Ploiesti Philharmonic, and it seems to me that this is normal for any cultural and performing institution in Romania, which should at least be able to adapt to any situation and audience at the same time, maintain a certain balance and be clearly based on certain principles in terms of culture, education and audience development in what follows.

I told you that the Ploiesti Philharmonic is a somewhat atypical institution, not being only an institution with a symphony orchestra. I was talking about the folk orchestra, the philharmonic choir, the Chronos quartet, the jazz section with the Ploiesti Jazz Trio... There are a lot of different departments, but all these departments either work together for different concerts or have their own seasons. Of course, the symphony orchestra has at least one, if not two, concerts a week, relying very much on the soloists we employ. I'm referring here to Liviu Prunaru, Remus Azoiței, Diana Ionescu... There are many vocal-symphonic concerts that we have prepared, including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Mozart's Recviem, Verdi's Recviem - these are very big works that we will not perform in our hall, but in a hall close to ours. It's the Palace of Justice, the Hall of Lost Steps - it's an absolutely superb hall, with a capacity of about 800 seats, which we seem to be able to fill every time and that encourages us a lot.

There are also festivals - in August, we will have a new edition of the jazz and blues festival on the roof of Ploiesti City Hall, Jazz on the Rooftop - 23^rd - 25^th of August. Ploiești Jazz Festival - 24^th -27^th of October. A festival in its first edition, 6-8 September - a fusion festival, based on the symphony orchestra and everything classical. There will be the symphony orchestra in the spotlight along with electronic music, either film music or symphonic rock, in different formats that any symphony orchestra can perform. We will also have guest orchestras from home and abroad. On the 29^th of September, it's the second edition of the Flower Ball - a charity event we're organising at the Hall of Columns in the Palace of Culture. It is a charity ball for the benefit of those who have less possibilities in Prahova county and that, together with the Rotary Club and the School of Flowers, we try to support. Perhaps an important aspect is also the fact that this season will end sometime in June, repeating the closing concert of the season in Vienna, with a special concert, with many young soloists this time, that we will take to perform with the symphony orchestra at the Musikverein in Vienna. And in July we will have a tour in Germany, with at least 4 concerts in different cities.

On the 8^th of March, on the occasion of Women's Day, you paid special attention to the ladies and gentlemen. Are there any other similar events before the end of the season to mark dates in the calendar?

There are several events. That event, first of all, was not a random one, to bring a piano to the city centre and give flowers. You should know that that project is part of a larger project, a project through which we managed, together with the Rotary Club, to bring more pianos in different conventional and unconventional spaces in Ploiești, in different malls, for young people, for students and for anyone who wants to play the piano. Thus, they have the opportunity, starting from March, in more than 6 places in the city of Ploiești, to play the piano as you see abroad, in any mall or airport. We wanted to bring this piano with stories into everyone's soul and give an element of colour and love through music.