The jazz trio Amphitriohas reached the finals of an international competition, where the prize is a chance to performat the prestigious Jazz Aroundfestival, scheduled for June in Warsaw. In order to win this competition, the band requires the support of the Romanian public. Votes can be cast until the 27th of May, on the jazzaround.pl website. In order to obtain more details, we spoke at Musica Viva with pianist and composer Andrei Petrache, member of Amphitrio.

Viorel Grecu: Good morning, everyone. A warm greeting for Andrei Petrache as well. He is live with us today. Good morning, Andrei.

Good morning, and thank you for the invitation.

Viorel Grecu: So, you are currently at an important moment for your band, a crucial point in your career. Could you tell us more about it, especially since you need the support of the Romanian public to fulfill this dream?

That's right. We are honored to be among the 15 finalist bands in this competition organized by the Jazz Around festival, which will be held at the end of June this year in Warsaw. The final of this competition involves an open vote, an appeal to the international public to vote for their favorite artist and support them online, so they can win and perform on the stage in Warsaw this summer.

Viorel Grecu: You were selected from a large number of international bands.

Yes. It was an open international call for any interested band, and based on the submitted materials, including the band's biography, social media channels, YouTube channel, Spotify, the website, actually there were many criteria we had too meet, but based on our little portfolio we have been selected.

Liviu Pețu: What's the name of the website where we can vote for you?

The website is jazzaround.pl. This will take place in Poland. The simplest way for the interested public to support us is to follow our social media pages: Amphitrio, which stands for the initials of the band members - Andrei, Mike, Philip. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Liviu Pețu: Noted. We will proceed with the votes.

Thank you very much.

Viorel Grecu: I remember we did an interview a few months ago, and you mentioned then that you would very much like to perform abroad, so this dream is much closer now.

Exactly. We are close to a beautiful moment. Regardless of the outcome of this voting appeal, we will not stop here. But it would mean a lot for us to reach Warsaw.

Viorel Grecu: Let's also mention that besides this festival, you are guaranteed to participate in a major European festival this summer. Can you tell us more about it?

Yes. Also related to international events, we recently received an invitation from the Jazz Cave festival, from which we found out we have the chance to perform in Baku, Azerbaijan, at their jazz festival. That will be later this summer. Besides that, we have many prestigious jazz festivals planned in Romania, such as Gărâna, Ploiești, Jazz in the Park, and many others.

Viorel Grecu: Amphitrio will be at the most important jazz festivals scheduled for this summer. As you mentioned, you can be found on social media, and you currently have three albums.

Two albums and an EP, which is a shorter material that served as the soundtrack for a film directed by Florin Piersic Jr.

Viorel Grecu: Thank you very much, Andrei. We wish you great success and hope that, with the support of music lovers in Romania, you will perform in Poland this summer.

Thank you very much, and thanks in advance to those who will vote for us.