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  • Into the Shadows / November 10, 2024

    The War Memorial 32 Lake Shore Dr, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, United States

    The Detroit Symphony Orchestra & The American Romanian Festival celebrating its 20th-anniversary season present an evening of works centered around the subject of death. The first work on the program, Rota II by Romanian composer Cornelia Tăutu, is a duet for violin and violoncello that opens slowly and austerely and evokes the contemplative nature of a long-forgotten ancestral melody. George Crumb’s reaction to the horrors of the Vietnam War is expressed through his threnody, Black Angels. The work is structured around the numbers 13 and 7, numerals often related to fate and destiny, and several tonal musical quotations can be found throughout the piece, including snippets from our next work on the program, Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” string quartet. Written in 1824, Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” was the composer’s coming to terms with his long-term illness and impending death, and has been called “one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire.”

  • Into the Shadows / January 31, 2025

    Kerrytown Concert House 415 N 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

    The American Romanian Festival celebrates its 20th-anniversary season with an evening of works centered around the subject of death. The recently commissioned piece by Ionica Pop, Remembering Ţăranu, employs a twelve-tone row, which also serves as a musical cryptogram to honor the recently deceased Romanian composer Cornel Ţăranu. George Crumb’s reaction to the horrors of the Vietnam War is expressed through his threnody, Black Angels. The work is structured around the numbers 13 and 7, numerals often related to fate and destiny, and several tonal musical quotations can be found throughout the piece, including snippets from our next work on the program, Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” string quartet. Written in 1824, Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” was the composer’s coming to terms with his long-term illness and impending death, and has been called “one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire.”

  • Romanian Resonance: A Conversation and Concert with Alexandru Șura & Marian Tănău / February 22, 2025

    The Keene Theater (East Quadrangle) 701 East University Avenue, Ann Arbor, United States

    The American Romanian Festival celebrates its 20th-anniversary season with a wonderful collaboration with the University of Michigan Residential College and the Stearns Collection. The Lecture-Recital will feature Romanian folk tunes for cimbalom as well as other arrangements by virtuoso cimbalom player Alexandru Șura, who will also speak about the art of cimbalom playing.

  • Romanian Echoes / February 23, 2025

    Kerrytown Concert House 415 N 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

    The American Romanian Festival celebrates its 20th-anniversary season with an evening of unique music by Enescu and other Romanian composers. Also featured are works for cimbalom, including a recent commission by composer Colin Martin for string quartet and cimbalom. Enjoy an evening of lyrical lines, dynamic and punctuated rhythms, and Romanian flair.

  • Different Trains / March 20, 2025

    Wasserman Projects 3434 Russell Street, #502, Detroit, United States

    The American Romanian Festival celebrates its 20th-anniversary season with an evening of works centered around travel that’s sure to cure the wanderlust in us all. First on the program is a recently commissioned piece by Ionica Pop, Impresii din România, that reflects the joy of celebration and the need for human communion and peace through music. In The Seven Dreams of Frida Kahlo for Clarinet and String Quartet, composer Ovidiu Marinescu takes us on an imaginary journey of dreams, from Mayan ritual dances to mariachi music to bebop jazz—which Frida Kahlo heard in New York in her travels with partner Diego Rivera—to an Arabic dream and pagan dance with Russian flair. Lastly, Steve Reich’s Different Trains for String Quartet and Pre-Recorded Performance Tape expresses the basic idea that carefully chosen speech recordings can generate musical materials for musical instruments. The piece is inspired by the composer’s childhood: When he was only 1 year old, Reich’s parents separated. His mother moved to Los Angeles while his father remained in New York. He traveled back and forth by train frequently between New York and Los Angeles from 1939 to 1942, accompanied by the governess. Different Trains is a reflection of Reich’s realization that as a Jew, had he been in Europe during those years, he easily could have been riding a very different kind of train.

  • From Afar: Romanian Musical Colors / October 25, 2025

    Steinway Piano Gallery Detroit 2700 E West Maple Rd, Commerce Charter Twp, MI, United States

    Join the American Romanian Festival for Romanian Musical Colors, an intimate chamber music concert with Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians. The program features Ionica Pop’s Impresii din România, Theodor Grigoriu’s On the River Argeș, Ciprian Porumbescu’s Ballad, and Ion Dumitrescu’s String Quartet in C Major No.1.

  • From Afar: Quartets by Grigoriu, Smetana, and More / October 26, 2025

    Kerrytown Concert House 415 N 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

    Join the American Romanian Festival for an intimate chamber music evening featuring Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians. From Afar: Quartets by Grigoriu, Smetana, and More offers a unique blend of tradition and innovation, including Ionica Pop’s new commission Impresii din România, Theodor Grigoriu’s folk-inspired On the River Argeș, Ciprian Porumbescu’s Ballad arranged for string quartet, and Bedřich Smetana’s evocative String Quartet in E Minor, “From My Life.” Experience music that bridges cultures with heartfelt nostalgia and bold expression.

  • Award-Winning Pianist Tetiana Shafran in Recital / May 23, 2026

    Galeria 3535 Indian Trail, Orchard Lake, MI, United States

    Join the American Romanian Festival and the Polish Institute of Culture & Research for an inspiring afternoon with award-winning pianist Tetiana Shafran, winner of the 2019 Olga Kern International Piano Competition. This captivating recital showcases a rich and expressive program spanning Romantic and early modern masterworks. The performance features Beethoven’s beloved “Moonlight” Sonata, Lysenko’s poignant Elegy, Busoni’s virtuosic Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Chopin, Enescu’s lyrical Pavana, Op. 10, and concludes with Chopin’s powerful Sonata No. 3.