Currently a fourth-year student at the National University of Music Bucharest, the soprano Aida Pascu is among the finalists of the 2021 edition of the competition for the "Romanian Musical Heirs" Scholarship; a project carried out by Radio România Muzical in partnership with Rotary Club Pipera. The young musician was given the opportunity to hold two concerts - one with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Brașov and one with the Romanian Chamber Orchestra.

We'll find out more details about these two concerts from the soprano Aida Pascu herself:

As the winner of a special prize in the "Romanian Musical Heirs" competition, organized by Radio România Muzical and Rotary Club Pipera, you'll be soon holding two concerts. On the 17^th of March you'll be going up the stage of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Brașov, where you'll be performing together with the institution's orchestra, conducted by the Croatian Andrej Vesel. On the 23^rd of March you'll be performing with the Romanian Chamber Orchestra in a concert that will be taking place on the stage of Sala Radio, and will be conducted by Radu Popa; one event out of a series that will mark the 25^th anniversary of the founding of the Radio România Muzical radio channel. On both of these occasions, two other finalists will also go up the stage, the percussionist Sara Gheorghe and the pianist Dominic Iliș. Aida, how do you feel about the opportunities you got after taking part in the competition in relation to your professional evolution?

First of all, I am very grateful for these opportunities since concerts are the main way of artistic affirmation for me at the moment. These are the events that I'm preparing and studying for every day and, of course,there's the motivation that every time I go up the stage I'll be better than the last time in the eyes of the public.

What have you chosen to perform during the two concerts and what was the selection criteria for each program? I know that the two programs are different from each other.

The two programs were chosen based on my vocal possibilities at the moment and on the agreement that I reached with the Romanian Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra in Brașov. For example, in Brașov I'll be performing five arias. These are Einsam in trüben Tagen from "Lohengrin" by Richard Wagner, the aria Il estdoux, ilest bon! from "Hérodiade" by Jules Massenet, Come in quest'orabruna from "Simon Boccanegra" by Giuseppe Verdi, Tuche di gel seicinta from "Turandot" by Giacomo Puccini and the famous aria Měsíčku nanebi hlubokém from "Rusalka" by Antonin Dvořák. Meanwhile, with the Romanian Chamber Orchestra I have chosen to perform more Mozart and Handel. For example, from Mozart there will be E Susanna non vien… Dove sono, from "The Marriage of Figaro", Crudele… Non mi dir from "Don Giovanni", Temerari… Come scoglio from "Così fan tutte" and Ach, ichfühl'sfrom "The Magic Flute", as well as Piangerò la sortemia from "Giulio Cesare" by Handel.

Are any of these arias part of a role that you've already been preparing for?

Yes. For example, I mentioned that I will be performing the aria Tuche di gel seicinta from "Turandot", I've already studied the role for Liù, but I have also studied the role of the Countessfrom "The Marriage of Figaro". Right now I'm studying at school the role of Fiordiligi from "Cosi fan tutte". Aside from that, I've studied Donna Anna from "Don Giovanni" and I've had the chance to interpret the role of Pamina from "The Magic Flute" at Studioul Experimental de Operă in Bucharest.

Is there prospect for a new debut?

I haven't discussed this opportunity yet, but I'm waiting to see how things go.

You're doing your last year at the National University of Music Bucharest. What are you preparing for your bachelor's?

For our bachelor's we have a repertoire of arias. The arias I have chosen are from four different periods of time: from baroque, romanticism, verismo and the modern period. From Baroque I'll be performing Dido's aria from "Dido and Aeneas" by Purcell - When I am laid in earth, and then a famous aria - Desdemona's aria, Canzone del salice and Ave Maria from "Otello" by Giuseppe Verdi. Once again I'll be performing Tuche di gel seicinta from "Turandot" and the abbess' lesser known aria Mesfilles, voila que s'acheve from "Dialogues of the Carmelites" by Francis Poulenc.

What projects do you have for the near future?

Right now I'm focusing on writing my bachelor's thesis and further studying this repertoire. I'm preparing for these two concerts that I have scheduled in March. In addition, there will be a project in Italy, "La boheme" by Giacomo Puccini, where I'll be interpreting Mimi through the opportunity that the soprano Raina Kabaivanska has given me.