INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR CONTEMPORARY MUSIC (ISCM)
ISCM-ROMANIAN SECTION ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

Throughout 2010 and 2011 the Romanian Section of ISCM developed an intense activity promoting the values of contemporary music, mainly Romanian, both in Romania and abroad. We continued in this period the projects of previous years and try to build new bridges of cooperation with national sections of the ISCM, but also with other institutions or organizations in the field of contemporary music, either in Romania or abroad.

Thus, we held, between 13-18 December 2010 in Bucharest and Craiova, the 6th MERIDIAN, ISCM – Romanian Section International Festival, a reference of musical events and tradition of landscape Romanian music, and also praised internationally for the value of its concert programs.

The 6th edition of the MERIDIAN, ISCM-Romanian Section International Festival was organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage – the main supporter of this prestigious international music event – the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists and the Romanian Section of ISCM; co-organizer: National University of Music Bucharest. Media Partners: Radio Romania Muzical, Radio Romania Cultural, Actualitatea Muzicală, the Institute for Cultural Memory – cIMec.ro, No 14 Plus Minus, Contemporania, the English-language newsletter of the ISCM-Romanian Section, Contemporary Music – Romanian Newsletter. Partners: "George Enescu" National Museum, Romanian Association of Women in Arts (ARFA), Union of Bulgarian Composers, Hungarian Cultural Center Bucharest, Akku (Hungary).

Having as a general theme, Cardinal Points, the festival of the Romanian Section of contemporary music has placed a special emphasis in its latest edition on the promotion of Romanian music, in the context of celebrating, in 2010, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Romanian Composers' Society, within which ISCM-Romanian Section activates. The program was also conceived in order to relate the Romanian new music to the musical values of today’s world, to what represents the new in the field of contemporary musical languages and experiences.

The 6th edition included in its program, for the first time, and a symphonic concert in the "Oltenia" Philharmonic Hall in Craiova, featuring exclusively Romanian works.

Important composers and performing personalitites from different countries were present in Bucharest on this occasion: Hungary, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, France, Latvia, Israel, Austria.

The December festival included chamber concerts, recitals, opera and experimental performances, in a wide range of styles and aesthetic concepts, characteristic of today's music.

The Cantacuzino Palace Hall, the "George Enescu" Hall and the Opera Studio of the National University of Music Bucharest, the "Oltenia" Philharmonic Hall in Craiova hosted, in the middle of December, musicians and music fans.

On Monday, February 22, 2010, the Romanian Section has organized on its premises as part of the ISCM-Romanian Section Circles, a tribute event titled: Aurel Stroe’s Music. Guests: Petruța Măniuț and Octavia Dinulescu.

On Saturday, June 12, 2010, a contemporary Romanian music concert, under the title: Music in the Balkans (I): Romanian contemporary music, was held in Sofia. The concert was organized by the ISCM-Romanian Section and the ISCM-Bulgarian Section, headed by composer Velislav Zaimov, also president of the Union of Bulgarian Composers. Works by Cornel Țăranu, Mihaela Vosganian, Valentin Petculescu, Elena Apostol, Sorin Lerescu, Laura Manolache, Petru Stoianov, George Balint were performed by the TRAIECT New Music Group: Sorin Lerescu, artistic director, Geanina Săveanu-Meragiu, violin, Răzvan Gachi, clarinet, Andrei Podlacha, piano.

We continued efforts in this period, in partnership with the No14 Plus Minus online magazine, to publish the online versions of the Romanian Section of ISCM Newsletter in English, Contemporary Music – Romanian Newsletter. The first online issue (nr.8/2008) was published in March 2011 and can be accessed at the web address: http://snrnews.wordpress.com/. In the coming period no. 9/2009 and no. 10/2010 of our publication will be made available online, in English.

Regarding the attendance by Romanian Composers at ISCM World Music Days festivals, we mention the ISCM-Romanian Section President being present at the 2010 edition of the most important contemporary music festival in the world which took place in Sydney, Australia from 30 April – 9 May 2010, along with other members of the Romanian Section of ISCM, composers: Mihaela Vosganian, President of ARFA, Adrian Borza and Iulia Cibișescu-Duran. Works by the latter two were selected – representing the ISCM-Romanian Section and ARFA – for concerts at the ISCM World New Music Days Festival in Australia.

For the 2011 edition of ISCM World New Music Days Festival in Croatia, the following works have been selected: Nicole Teodoreanu HAU ZABAVA, representing the ISCM-Romanian Section, and Japanese garden by Doina Rotaru – member in the Executive Committee of the Romanian Section of ISCM – from the Romanian Association of Women in Arts (ARFA), an organization with which the ISCM-Romanian Section has concluded a partnership agreement to promote Romanian contemporary music.

Sorin Lerescu, President