One of the most important juries in the world, tasked with awarding prizes for audio-video productions, "International Classical Music Awards" (ICMA), whose accolades are usually known as the "Oscars of Classical Music", will have a meeting for the first time in Romania very soon, on the 25^th and 28^th of January. The most recent Romanian success at the ICMA Awards was announced on the 18^th of January. The title of "Young Artist of the Year" was awarded to the soprano Aida Pascu. She was last week's special guest at Perpetuum Mobile. This time, our guests are Remy Franck, editor-in-chief for the Pizzicato magazine and the president of the ICMA Jury. Moreover, I am joined by Cristina Comandașu, the manager of Radio România Muzical, also a member of the ICMA Jury.

Remy Franck, welcome to Bucharest. Welcome to the Radio Romania Studio.

Remy Franck: Thank you.

First of all, let's talk about ICMA, how it all started. We are celebrating five years since we have been members of the Jury. We do it with pride. What can you tell us about this first meeting, here, in Romania?

Remy Franck: Well, I am very grateful to my colleague, Cristina, for inviting us to Romania. I think not so many of our jury members have been very often to Bucharest. We have the opportunity to not only have our meetings here, at the meeting hall in the Radio Hall, but also concerts. There are two concerts -George Enescu Philharmonic and the Radio Philharmonic. So, this is something we are looking forward to - towitness many musical experiences here, in Bucharest, and to also haveour meeting.

Cristina Comandașu: The ICMA Jury will have a meeting in Bucharest for the first time and is grateful to Radio RomâniaMuzical for organising it. This will not only be the chance to hold its annual meeting in Bucharest, but also the chance to witness to two concerts: one presented by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, and the other, here, at Radio Hall. It is an opportunity for the members of the Jury, since many of them have never been to Romania before, or their stay was too short-lived in order to be able to understand what Romania truly means.

How often are these meetings scheduled?

Remy Franck: Well, we have one general assembly, always in the beginning of the year. So, in January or February. In January, we meet once, when we have our Award Ceremony and the Gala Concert in the place where it's held. We have two big meetings of the Jury in a year. All the rest of our work is done by email. If something really important is happening, we can also plan a ZOOM meeting, but it will only happen somewhere safe.

Cristina Comandașu:The way in which the ICMA Jury works is as following: there are two meetings in a year: the annual meeting - the general meeting which happens at the beginning of the year (usually January); the second one is held on the occasion of the Gala Awards Ceremony (usually during spring - April, May). If important events are to arise, ZOOM meetings are held, but usually these two are the significant meetings. The rest of the Jury's work is done by email.

Remy Franck, 15 years since you have been the president of the ICMA Jury - a three-part question; a little story time, if you will: what does this imply? What is your activity in this Jury? And how do you feel the competition has evolved in all these 15 years? Let's stick just to the two parts, for now.

Remy Franck: For one, I have been the president of this Jury for much longer, since the Jury was firstly called the"Cannes Classical Awards", then "MIDEM Classical Awards". Later, we became independent from MIDEM and we took our name,"International Classical Music Awards". So, I was already president before, as a jury. What has dramatically changed is that now we are completely independent from any organization. We really are responsible for what we do completely, and I think the Jury has now better working conditions. We are also experiencing better Gala and Award ceremonies because, with MIDEM the ceremony and the concert were together and it was something like a three-hour show - and music, talking, speeches, and so on. This was really not good. From the beginning, so from 2011, we separated the Award Ceremony from the Gala Concert. The Gala concert is always broadcast and offered by the local radio to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), so it can be listened to worldwide. For the past two years, we've also had "Deustche Welle", a Youtube channel. We've had our first live broadcast on this channel of. The concerts have been posted in the past three years. The ones that are more recent - the one in Luxembourg from 2022, and the one in Wroclaw from 2023, have over three million views. This gives ICMA a worldwide presence. When I read the comments, we have people viewing our concerts from Indonesia, Australia, all over Europe, in Canada, iUSA, Japan and so on. For me this is, in a way, something emotional to experience now.

Cristina Comandașu: Therefore,Remy Franck has not been the president of the ICMA Jury starting with 2011. His work as the president of a contest jury goes way back, as ICMA is actually what became of the "Cannes Classical Awards",called MIDEM afterwards (also taking place in Cannes). The one thing that changed with the passage of time is the fact that this Jury is now completely independent and works withoutfocusing on any self-interests or marketing, I would add. Another important thing is the fact that they began opening their doors to the international scene. On one hand, this is possible through the Gala Concerts, which are recorded by public radios from the countries that organise the events. Said recordings are given to the EBU. We ourselves have broadcastthe Luxembourg concert live, via our colleagues from public radios in Luxembourg. On the other hand, these concerts have been uploaded on the Youtube channel "Deustche Welle", and received over three million views. He is truly glad that there are people viewing and liking this gala from unexpected places all around the world. Thus, there is true openness towards the international scene, and also a rise in what concerns the quality of productions from ICMA.

Question for the both of you now. You are both members of the ICMA Jury. What do you look for in the recordings? Or when selecting a winner for a certain category?

Remy Franck: We are looking for good recordings, of course, but not only for that. At the end, our winners should really be outstanding. That's the quality we are look for.

Cristina Comandașu: The thing we are looking for is the quality of recordings, in terms of their artistry and technique. Moreover, the winner should be an exceptional person. As for myself, to answer the question, I am actually looking for the same things. As a music critic, you only possess an axiological system that you can base your views on, the one concerning value. And this is the thing that always comes first. A good recording always stands out, artistry and technique-wise. Exceptional recordings invariably distinguish themselves from others.

Remy Franck: Something very important for me is also that it's been a year since we have three awards going to young musicians. It was always in my life. I was producing concerts when I was very young and I started immediately by giving young musicians a chance to perform. This is something which is very dear to me today. Now we have these awards for young artists: we have the "Discovery Award" for musicians aged 12 to 18, we have the "Young Artist Award", won this year by Aida Pascu, and also another ICMA award, in collaboration with the internet platform"Classic", dedicated only to young people. We are not looking for the big stars of the music scene, we are only looking for what is musically exceptionally good.

Cristina Comandașu: Remy Franck notes that the Jury also has in its sights promoting young artists. As of now, there are three awards that go to them. One of them has been awarded this year to Aida Pascu,the "Young Artist Award". The other two address people aged 12 to 18. The "Discovery Award"is offered in collaboration with the Academy of Music in Liechtenstein. It is one of the best music schools in the world, I would add. The other one is offered in collaboration with "Classic", a platform whose purpose is promoting young artists. I would add again that there are young artists promoted by Classic who performed in Romania. I remember having projects together with the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra. The thing the ICMA Jury is actually looking for is not only to bring forth talents that are already well-known, their purpose is to highlight value and for the best quality music to shine.

Let's keep talking about young Romanian musicians. Two of them won awards: Aida Pascu, this year, and Sebastian Androne in 2022 for "Composer of the Year". What do you think about young Romanian musicians right now, from what you have seen in the ICMA Jury?

Remy Franck: I am very grateful for the presence of Radio RomâniaMuzical in the Jury because it is through this that we have access to the musical life in Romania. I guess that it's a little bit like in Poland. You have many very good artists, but not too many people know about them abroad. You have a very famous music festival and you are inviting people from abroad, but on the other side, I think that every country should also get their musical life presented outside, to other countries, where you have some musicians well-known. Still, I think that the promotion of young musicians, especially, is extremely important and this is something we can do now thoughICMA, thanks to the collaboration with Radio România Muzical.

Cristina Comandașu: The presence of Radio România Muzical around ICMA also means that the Jury could acknowledge Romanian productions, and also young Romanian artists that we proposed for different awards. The thing Remy Franck emphasises is the fact that, of course, everyone knows about the "George Enescu Festival" (that is what he was referring to), although there could be so much more done about promoting the musical life in Romania, which he compares to the one in Poland. A lot of great musicians, but very few known abroad. And so, Radio România Muzical is an important part of the Jury, since it is like a bridge that connects ICMA to more information about the Romanian musical life, which gets elevated to an international level.

And staying on the topic of Romanian musicians, do you follow any Romanian musicians? Do you like any Romanian musicians?

Remy Franck: Yes, of course. We listen to Romanian music - composers we know and others we discover - like Sebastian Androne, whom I like very much. Of course, we know about some musicians. Today, the musical world is so full of music. We had never had as many concerts as we do have today. We have never had as many recordings or labels as we do today. The sheer quantity a musical journalist is getting presented during the year is incredible. We have to make choices, and I think we often rely on good presentation. Nowadays, promotion, again, is something very, very important within the musical life. The only thing that I can tell to Romanian musicians: just do not shy away from making your promotion outside; write to musical editors all over the world and try to make your presence felt. It is so important today.

Cristina Comandașu: As for Romanian artists, Remy Frank mentioned Sebastian Androne's name, whom he admires. Sebastian, indeed, had a very good performance at the 2022 Gala held Luxembourg. He underlines the fact that the international stage is now richer than ever. We have numerous concerts, recordings, so it is very difficult for artists to stand out, if they do not insist on promoting themselves. He advises Romanian musicians to write to musical editors from all over the world, to introduce themselves, because that is how they will get noticed. This is also the way it goes in Romania.

From what you saw today, how do you like Bucharest?

Remy Franck: I must say I have already been to Bucharest in the early 21^st century, but I came here for a festival with the Luxembourg Philharmonic that I was working for at the time. The plane arrived, we went to the hotel, to the concert hall, back to the hotel, and the next day, back to Luxembourg. I was not even for 24 hours in Bucharest. I don't remember anything and I had no precise idea about what I was to expect. Today, I have already seen so many beautiful things, thanks to Cristina. She showed me around and allowed me to discover really beautiful aspects of Bucharest and, I must say, I am really astonished and glad that I have seen what I have seen.

Cristina Comandașu: Remy Franck wasn't able to even see much of Bucharest the first time he came here. He came as the press officer of the "Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra" for the Enescu Festival from 15 years ago. Hisstay didn't even last 24 hours, so he wasn't able to visit or see much. After being given a tour by Radio RomâniaMuzical today, he was very glad and astonished to see the life the life in Bucharest, its history, buildings and so on.

Because earlier you talked a little bit about promotion, I wanted to talk about the recital Radio România Muzical is organizing with the ICMA Jury visit. I wanted to talk to Cristina for just two minutes."Near a low foothill, at Heaven's doorsill"is the title of the recital organized by our radio station and the Brașov Philharmonic. It is going to be held on Saturday, on the 27^th of January. Romanian musicians will present a performance that is 100% Romanian.

Cristina Comandașu: Almost.To highlight our rich culture, we came up with the idea of presenting something that is a part of thehigh-quality Romanian musical lifeto our guests. We included musicians that perform on an international level within a qualitative Romanian repertoire. Together with the Brașov Philharmonic and the support received from Rotary Club Pipera, we organized a recital through which people can listen to Alexandru Tomescu and the pianist Eduard Kunz, performing George Enescu's violin and piano Sonata No. 3with the Romanian folk sense. They will also make a CD with recordings from that tour they went on (about 10 years ago), when they performed all of George Enescu's violin and piano sonatas. It is, thus, the perfect moment to perform this emblematic Sonata No. 3. Răzvan Popovici will also join us. He is the famous creator and organiser of the "SoNoRo Festival". We will also be joined by pianist Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu, who is the artistic director at the Brașov Philharmonicat the moment. He was its manager until quite recently. Moreover, we will have works by Enescu and Stan Golestan that are very little-known. Our special guest is pianist Iuliana Münch, née Geambașu, alongside pianist André Parfenov. They are alsofriends of Radio România Muzical, through the actions of Casa Artiștilor (House of Artists) in Bușteni. Iuliana Münch has left Romania more than 20 years ago. She's worked on an extraordinary career in Germany and has returned to Casa Artiștilor. Her purpose is to create a safe space for musicians, for studying, recreation and quietude. They will not perform works from the Romanian repertoire, but some transcriptions signed by André Parfenov, who is a highly regarded composer, as well.

Are tickets still available?

Cristina Comandașu: There are a few left at the "Brașov Philharmonic", I believe. It is, indeed, an event coming up with such important names. If anyone wishes to participate, they should hurry since Sala Patria will be sold-out quite soon.

We were talking about the concert from Saturday. Remy Franck, editor-in-chief for Pizzicato and Cristina Comandașu, manager Radio România Muzical, both of you members of the ICMA Jury. Thank you very much for your visit at the Radio România Muzical studio!

Remy Franck: Thank you!