9 December 2025
7:00 PM
Bragadiru Palace
This year, the concert also makes an ideal St Nicholas Day or Christmas gift: a refined, unforgettable musical experience for loved ones, or even a treat for yourself. Perhaps it might also provide the perfect inspiration for an exceptional present.
The concert is not only a tribute to Gershwin but also an open invitation to the future. In the spirit of innovation, the evening will integrate AI and MIDI technology directly into the live performance, creating a fascinating dialogue between tradition and modernity. Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu presents a sonic adventure in which music’s past, present and future intertwine in a warm, festive atmosphere full of sparkle.
Rhapsody in B…ucharest! — a splendid gift, a moment of celebration and a rare opportunity to feel Bucharest pulsating like New York on a winter’s night. Will you let this story sweep you away?
Tickets are available here:
https://eventbook.ro/music/bilete-rhapsody-in-bucharest
The event is supported by BRD – Groupe Société Générale
Event partners: AFI Mall, Brand Distribution Group, CBS Design
An event organised by Asociația Sonoro and Blauer Mozart
About the artists
Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu – piano
Pianist Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu began studying piano at the age of 11 under the guidance of pianist and teacher Corina Ibănescu.
A few years later, he launched his international career, making his debut in 2011 on the legendary stage of the Berlin Philharmonie with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the “Emperor”. Since then, he has performed on major stages in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Japan and many other countries.
He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Martin Hughes and Stefan Arnold. A prizewinner at international competitions including the “Pietro Argento” International Piano Competition (Italy), the Cameristi dell’Alpe Adria Competition (Italy) and the Casino Austria Rising Stars Award (Vienna), Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu has appeared as soloist with philharmonic orchestras in Romania, Germany, Austria and Japan.
Beyond his solo career, Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu has distinguished himself as a dedicated advocate for the next generation of musicians. He founded the Ton der Jugend Symphonieorchester youth orchestra in Vienna, bringing together more than 200 outstanding musicians who performed in the city’s renowned Musikverein and Konzerthaus. In Romania, he organised two editions of the Transylvanian International Piano Competition in Brașov, attracting more than 100 young pianists from around the world. In 2019, he co-founded the TAMTAM Festival, which quickly became a landmark of the city’s cultural life, drawing more than 60,000 spectators annually across its four editions in Brașov.
Between 2020 and 2024, Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu led the Brașov Philharmonic as General Manager and Artistic Director, contributing to the institution’s revitalisation. Since 2023, he has served as Director of Development and Innovation at the SoNoRo Association and as Artist Manager of the Chiemgauer Musikfrühling festival in Germany, continuing his mission to support and inspire future generations of artists.
At the same time, Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu developed the SoNoRo Kids programme, bringing classical music into classrooms across Romania as an essential part of every child’s balanced development. To date, the programme has reached more than 30 schools in Brașov, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest, introducing over 3,000 children to classical music in its first year.
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Radu Dunca – violin
Violinist Radu Dunca was born in Bistrița in 1990. He began studying violin at the age of seven, first with Liliana Făgărășan and later with Adrian Cârdan at the “Sigismund Toduță” Music High School in Cluj-Napoca.
Radu holds a bachelor’s degree from the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca, where he studied with Nicușor Silaghi. In 2018, he earned a master’s degree from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, studying with Liviu Prunaru.
He has attended masterclasses with Adelina Oprean (Basel), Alexander Sitkovetsky (London), Alexandru Tomescu, Gabriel Croitoru, Priya Mitchell (Oxford), Semion Yaroshevich (Tel Aviv), Stefan Gheorghiu, Daria Zappa (Bern), Natalia Lomeiko (London), Florin Paul (Hamburg), Eszter Haffner (Graz), Maxim Vengerov and Mihaela Martin (Cologne).
As a soloist, Radu Dunca has performed with leading Romanian orchestras, including the Transylvania Philharmonic in Cluj-Napoca, the Craiova Philharmonic, the Sibiu State Philharmonic, the Satu Mare Philharmonic, the Râmnicu Vâlcea Philharmonic, the Botoșani Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca, and the Romanian Youth Orchestra. He has worked under renowned conductors such as Gabriel Bebeșelea, Cristian Mandeal, Alexandru Lascae, Petre Sbârcea, David Crescenzi, Josef Horvath and Adrian Morar.
In addition to his solo work, Radu Dunca has developed a strong chamber-music repertoire. As a scholarship recipient at the acclaimed SoNoRo Chamber Music Festival, he took part in masterclasses with Daria Zappa, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Natalia Lomeiko and Eszter Haffner, and performed in Bucharest, Brașov, Craiova, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Cluj-Napoca, Arezzo and Montepulciano (Italy).
He currently serves as concertmaster of the Bucharest National Opera, the Romanian Youth Orchestra and the Romanian National Symphony Orchestra.
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Mihaela Mitrofan – violin
Mihaela began studying violin at the age of five with Olivia Papa and completed twelve years of musical training at the “George Enescu” National College of Music. She subsequently enrolled at the National University of Music in Bucharest, studying with Professor Ioana Croitoru, and continues her training there at master’s level.
Over the years, she has received numerous prizes and scholarships recognising her talent and artistic development, including the National University of Music Bucharest’s Excellence Scholarship (2022) and the MOL Scholarship for the Promotion of Talent (2017–2020). She won the Grand Prize at the “Dan Cumpătă” Competition (2020), First Prize with highest honours in the “Giovani Talenti” category of the International “Rovere d’Oro” Competition (San Bartolomeo al Mare, Italy, 2019), the Audience Prize and Fourth Prize in the Grand Prize final of the same competition, and First Prize at the National Music Olympiad (2018). She also received Grand Prizes at the national “Timotei Popovici” (Sibiu, 2015) and “Paul Constantinescu” (Ploiești, 2012) competitions.
As a soloist, she has collaborated with the orchestra of the “George Enescu” National College, the “Universitaria” Orchestra of the National University of Music Bucharest, and the philharmonic orchestras of Satu Mare, Galați and Sibiu. She has given recitals in Romania, Switzerland and Italy, while taking part in masterclasses with distinguished artists including Șerban Lupu, Mihaela Martin, Silvia Marcovici, Liviu Prunaru, Philip Draganov and Erzhan Kulibaev.
She was a member of the international orchestra of FAME’S European Orchestral Performing Institute, performing in North Macedonia and Croatia (2022), and regularly participates in the “Enescu and the Music of the World” Festival, appearing on stages in Sinaia and Bucharest.
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Răzvan Popovici – viola
Born in Bucharest into a family of musicians, Răzvan Popovici began studying the viola with his father, Mugur Popovici. He went on to study in Salzburg, Paris and Freiburg with Peter Langgartner, Jean Sulem and Wolfram Christ. He has appeared as a soloist at the Cologne Philharmonie, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, Prinzregententheater in Munich and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, alongside ensembles including the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Kobe Chamber Orchestra, Romanian National Radio Orchestra, “George Enescu” Philharmonic, Transylvania Philharmonic in Cluj-Napoca, CHAARTS Chamber Artists of Zürich and Kamerata Kronstadt. He has collaborated with Juliane Banse, Shlomo Mintz, Konstantin Lifschitz, Natalia Gutman, Nobuko Imai, Elena Bashkirova, Radovan Vlatković, Daishin Kashimoto, Olli Mustonen, Gilles Apap, Frans Helmerson, Mihaela Martin, Ilya Gringolts, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Louis Lortie, Giovanni Sollima and Thomas Demenga. A regular guest at international festivals, he has appeared at the Lucerne Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Kuhmo Festival, Schwetzingen Festival, Spoleto Festival, Mintz Festival Tucumán, Ferrara Musica, Rolandseck Festival, Boswil Musiksommer, Mittelfest Cividale, Festival Academy Budapest and Kobe Music Festival. His appearances have also taken him to Carnegie Hall in New York, Musashino Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall in London, the YMCA in Jerusalem and Bozar in Brussels. He performs internationally as a member of Ensemble Raro and teaches viola at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp.
He is a regular guest at festivals around the world, including the Lucerne Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Kuhmo Festival, Schwetzingen Festival, Spoleto Festival, Mintz Festival Tucumán, Ferrara Musica, Rolandseck Festival, Boswil Musiksommer, Mittelfest Cividale, Festival Academy Budapest and Kobe Music Festival. His concert venues include Carnegie Hall in New York, Musashino Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall in London, the YMCA in Jerusalem and Bozar in Brussels. He regularly tours worldwide as a member of Ensemble Raro.
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Ștefan Cazacu – cello
Recently honoured in Germany and Romania, young cellist Ștefan Cazacu has added two international distinctions to his achievements: First Prize at the International Danube Festival – Donaufest (Ulm, Germany, 2022) and Third Prize at the George Enescu International Competition (Bucharest, 2020–2021 edition).
Born in 1994, Ștefan Cazacu began his musical training at just six years old with his father, the renowned cellist Marin Cazacu. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s studies at the National University of Music in Bucharest under another leading Romanian cellist, Răzvan Suma. An Erasmus scholarship from the European Union allowed him to complete part of his master’s studies at the University of Music in Vienna. He has attended masterclasses with Reinhard Latzko, Wolfgang Boettcher and Frans Helmerson.
His talent has been recognised with many distinctions, including First Prize at the Liezen International Competition in Austria (2008), Second Prize at the Antonio Janigro Competition in Croatia (2008), and the Grand Prize in the Romanian national selection for Eurovision Young Musicians (Bucharest, 2010), among others.
He has performed at major European venues including the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Konzerthaus and Philharmonie in Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, as well as philharmonic halls in Skopje, Sofia and Belgrade. In Romania, he has appeared at the Romanian Athenaeum, Sala Radio, Sala Palatului, the Bucharest National Opera and philharmonic halls across the country.
Ștefan Cazacu has worked regularly since 2011 with the Violoncellissimo ensemble, founded by his father Marin Cazacu in 1992. He also frequently performs with cellist Mircea Marian; together they appear as Duo Serafim. He has additionally been acclaimed as a member of PlaCello, alongside Răzvan Suma, Ella Bokor and Mircea Marian.
Since 2020, Ștefan Cazacu has taught at the National University of Music in Bucharest and the “Dinu Lipatti” National College of Arts. Since the age of 15, he has performed on a historic cello made in Turin in 1917 by luthier Georg Ullman.
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Joshua Türköz – double bass
Joshua Türköz is a Romanian double bassist of the new generation, noted for his artistic maturity, solid technique and interpretative versatility. He began his studies at the “George Enescu” National College of Music in Bucharest with Octavian Ralea, principal double bassist of the National Radio Orchestra, later becoming the first of Ralea’s students to be admitted to the Conservatoire. He continued his studies at the National University of Music in Bucharest with Professor Săndel Smărăndescu, completing his bachelor’s degree and pursuing his master’s degree there.
Between 2016 and 2020, Joshua won numerous prizes at national and international competitions, confirming his promise as a young musician. These include First Prize at the “Young Talents” International Competition (2020), First Prize for Excellence at “The Joy of Music” (2019), First Prize and special prizes at “Fulfilled Talents”, Special First Prize at “Victor Giuleanu”, and First Prize at the “George Georgescu” International Competition (2018), as well as awards at the national stages of Romania’s Instrumental Performance Olympiad.
Between 2020 and 2025, he collaborated with major Romanian musical institutions, including the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, Bucharest National Opera, Radio Chamber Orchestra, “Oltenia” Philharmonic, Brașov Philharmonic, Pitești Philharmonic and the “Oleg Danovski” National Opera and Ballet Theatre. He currently collaborates with the “Ion Dacian” National Operetta and Musical Theatre in Bucharest.
He has given recitals in Romania and taken part in important events, including an open-air solo recital with piano at the George Enescu International Festival.
With his expressiveness, discipline and passion, Joshua Türköz has established himself as one of the most promising double bassists on the Romanian music scene.