"TÎLCOVENII" concert-show at the Ploiești Philharmonic

Gigi Căciuleanu, a prominent personality of contemporary dance, has had a career covering an impressive part of the globe, in which he has danced and impressed with his performances, as well as with his charismatic personality and original conception of art. A choreographer, dancer and teacher, Gigi Căciuleanu, holder of numerous international prizes and decorations, has collaborated over the years with artists such as Astor Piazzola, Pina Bausch, Maïa Plissetskaïa and Jean-Michel Jarre. “Dance is the most beautiful path between two points”, says Gigi Căciuleanu, and his performances demonstrate every time the beauty and generosity of this idea.

Dan Dediu is one of the most important names in Romanian composition. He has composed over 180 opuses covering almost all musical genres, and is the laureate of several national and international composition prizes. Dan Dediu is a professor of composition, and in 2022 he was elected President of the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania. In January 2024, he was decorated by the President of Romania with the Order of Cultural Merit at the rank of Commander.

“From my first contact with Dan Dediu’s music, it was clear to me that, in addition to the learned interplay between melody and rhythm, it brings out a flavour proper to folk tales. Precisely for this reason, the succession of musical moments gave me a very strong desire to seek out (and find!) a meaning for them. I sent the composer Dan Dediu a series of texts so that he could choose those he would like to set to music. With the interweaving of moments of pianistic virtuosity (Valentina Sandu-Dediu and Dan Dediu) with vocal virtuosity (soprano Oana Berbec). From here it began and thus the Tîlcovenii concert-show took shape”, explains Gigi Căciuleanu about this novel artistic endeavour.

Valentina Sandu-Dediu graduated from the National University of Music in Bucharest (UNMB) in 1990, obtaining her doctorate in music in 1995. She teaches at UNMB and is the laureate of the Music Critics’ Prize (1991), the Romanian Academy Prize (1997), the Prize of the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania (1998, 2014, 2017), the Ernst von Siemens Foundation Prize, Munich (1998, 2000, 2004). The most prestigious distinction is the Prize of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, awarded by Peregrinus-Stiftung in 2008.

Oana Berbec is a graduate in voice from UNMB and has attended masterclasses given by Ileana Cotrubaș, Marina Krilovici, Donna Woodward and Larisa Gergieva. The great opportunity to collaborate with maestro Gigi Căciuleanu came in 2017 at the National Opera, with the show “TragiComedy” set to music by Rodion Shchedrin, which opened a new perspective for her. The collaboration continued, with maestro Căciuleanu entrusting her with the leading role in “Kiritza or the Game of…” after the plays by Vasile Alecsandri, received with great joy by critics and the public.

The “TÎLCOVENII” concert-show was initially presented in Bucharest, at the Romanian Athenaeum, organised with the support of JTI.

Admission to this charitable event is free, subject to availability of seats.