The 18th annual George Enescu International Festival and Competition, scheduled for September 1 – 23, 2007, will pay special tribute to Romania’s most famous composer and musician on the 126th anniversary of his birth, in 1881.

Some of the world’s most famous orchestras and chamber ensembles will perform in Bucharest and other Romanian cities, some premiering new works. Juried competitions will be held for piano, violin and voice.

Already on the schedule are:
Basel Chamber Orchestra,
La Capella Reial de Catalunya,
Dresdner Philharmoniker,
Freiburger Barok Orchestra,
George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra,
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra,
London Symphony Orchestra,
Munchner Philharmoniker,
Orchestre de Paris,
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra,
Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra,
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra,
Russian National Orchestra,
Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra,
Choir and Orchestra of Bucharest National Opera,
Choir of Mdr Radio Leipzig,

“George Enescu was one of the most prodigiously gifted musicians of the twentieth century,” according to noted biographer Paul Banks.
“A great violinist and composer, a distinguished conductor, an accomplished pianist, able cellist and a famous violin teacher who numbered Christian Ferras, Arthur Grumiaux and Yehudi Menuhin among his pupils. His musical memory was phenomenal, a fact that contributed to the loss of some of his own works which he composed but never wrote down”.

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