The SoNoRo Conac Tour, the 12th edition, continues with a new series of events that will take place during May in the country. Răzvan Popovici, the initiator of the project, gives us information about the upcoming concerts in an interview with our colleague Sarah Natsis:

Mr. Răzvan Popovici, three months ago, the opening event of the SoNoRo Conac Tour, the 12th edition, took place at the Radio Hall in Bucharest. The structure of the current edition comprises three parts, the second of which will take place this month. Firstly, how did the first part of the tour go and what was the public response to the events?

It was, I would say, a strong debut, really unforgettable, because the concert with which we opened the series at the Sala Radio was one of the best Mărțișor concerts we have organised so far. We performed in great places! The concert at the "Vasile Alecsandri" College in Galați or at the Palas Hotel in Băile Govora where we had a full house - a very grateful and happy audience. And the programme... quite sophisticated that we chose, symbolized and inspired by "L'heure bleue"... was very well received by the audience.

When we talk about the SoNoRo Conac Tour, we are talking both about chamber music and its association with architectural symbols in Romania, some of them less known or even forgotten. Which spaces will you surprise the audience with this time and which will host the next events?

I am very happy that we will be performing for the first time in King Charles' house in Viscri, an iconic place in Transylvania. And certainly, with Prince Charles becoming King Charles, it will attract even more tourists. So, for the first time we are playing there. Obviously, our SoNoRo and SoNoRo Conac Tour's ties to Viscri run deep - we've performed in many places there, and the Musikland Festival, our summer festival, brings great music to Viscri every year.

Then, we'll be performing for the first time next week in Casa Balș in Iași, also a legendary place for the people of Iași and Moldova. And among the places we will fill with music in June, I would mention the recently restored Ethnographic Museum in Sf. Gheorghe. It's a place where we're performing for the first time (of course, well known to the locals, but certainly not well known to the Romanian public). So, I'm happy to introduce this place on the SoNoRo Conac 2024 concert map.

Can you tell us the names of the artists who will be performing in these events?

Next week we will be performing in a trio plus format. So, pianists Cristian Mihart and Ioan Dragoș Dimitriu... I will play with them various pieces for violin and piano. And in both concerts we have two young violinists invited - in Viscri, my former student and SoNoRo scholarship holder Alexandru Spînu, and next Monday, in Iași, a current SoNoRo scholarship holder and student of mine from Anvers, from the Royal Conservatory, who will perform with us several pieces by Bartók, Ligeti or Vieuxtemps - a very promising artistic combination.