‘“A CENTURY OF LONGING…” - ROMANIA AND BESSARABIA IN EUROPE 1918-2018’

Join us in celebrating 100 years since the unification of Romania and Bessarabia with an evening of music illustrating a century of hardship, love and hope, a century of longing for unity, and of longing for Europe...

An extraordinary recital brought to you by GRIGORE LEȘE, the virtuoso of Romanian traditional music and ancestral singing techniques, accompanied by special guests: Mihaela Pletea – soprano, Maria Chifu - bassoon and Olga Podobinschi – piano.

Musician, doctor in music, professor of ethnomusicology, author and awarded journalist, GRIGORE LEȘE is so much more than an extraordinary artist... He is one of the most profound channelers of Romanian consciousness, culture and values.

Born in 1954 in the Maramureș region of Northern Romania, GRIGORE LEȘE has performed worldwide at important festivals, in Washington, Bloomington, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Athens, Montreal, Basel, Morelia, Frankfurt, London… The artist has dedicated his life to the preservation and promotion of authentic Romanian traditional music and culture. His songs have been selected for a series of feature films and documentaries from Romania, as well as abroad such as The Pharaoh, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot (a BBC production) and Wild Carpathia (a Travel Channel production).

Apart from several music albums released in Romania, the artist has also recorded Le chant de Lăpuș with OCORA Radio France in Paris and Cântec pastoral with Amori Label in Lausanne.