Georgeta Stoleriu and Violetta Stefanescu

GEORGETA STOLERIU soprano studied piano at the Music High School "Dinu Lipatti" and graduated from the Bucharest Music Academy in the class of Professor Iolanda Marculescu. Since the beginning of her career was devoted to interpreting vocal-symphonic and chamber music, her repertoire includes oratorios, sang, arias, lieder and opera, from Monteverdi, Purcell and Pergolesi to Rossini, Grieg and Mahler. Georgeta Stoleriu is the winner of numerous national competitions, "J. S. Bach "- Leipzig, 1976, Prize" Flame "- 1995, holds the medals" Dinu Lipatti "and" George Enescu "- 1995," Hariclea Darclee "," Tristan Tzara "- 1996. She participated in international festivals, among which Bydgoszcz - Poland, 1972, Zadar - Yugoslavia, 1977, Sans Souci - Potsdam and Bremen, Germany, 1988, Milwaukee, Wisconsin - United States, 1992, Santander - Spain, 1995, Ceske Budejovice - Czech Republic 1997, Bucharest - Romania, 1976, 1985, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2007, Dortmund - Germany, 2000 and collaborated with "George Enescu" National Radio Orchestra, and for 20 years was a soloist of the band "Musica Rediviva.”. She has toured in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Moldova, Morocco, USA, France, Portugal, Austria, Sweden.

Teaching activity is highlighted by over 60 international awards obtained by the students from her singing class at the National University of Music in Bucharest. She has also taught master courses in Romania, Czech Republic and USA.

The singer presented over 80 papers in first edition and has over 3800 minutes of recordings Radio, besides recording albums. It was included in the jury of international competitions, among which the "George Enescu" (Bucharest), "Prague Spring", Malmo and Belgrade. Is the founder of the scholarship "Iolanda Marculescu". Georgeta Stoleriu known by national and international audiences and the developments with the ensemble "Studio Muzica Veche" / "Old Music Studio" which she manages and soloist, frequently providing percussion scores.

Pianist VIOLETTA STEFANESCU holds a Ph.D. in MUSICOLOGY Lect. Degree - The National University of Music BUCHAREST, with a thesis: “The exoticism in French Piano Music from the 1st half of the 20th Century. Violietta studied piano at the National University of Music, Bucharest with Constantin Ionescu, Vovu and Veronica Gaspar; chamber music with Serban Nichifor at the G. Enescu and D. Lipatti High School of Music, Bucharest and has participated in master classes with Alain Planes, Claude Bessmann, and Dalton Baldwin in France and Romania Violetta Stefanescu has recorded: The complete piano music of Gabriel Fauré; The complete piano music of Francis Poulenc ; The complete piano music of Darius Milhaud










Eugène van Itterbeek was a renowned expert of the Romanian philosopher and essayist Emil Cioran. Several years in a row he organized the international Cioran colloquium in Sibiu. At the end of his life poetry became his principal way of communicating. He wrote essays and poems in his preferred languages, Dutch and French. His books were translated into German and Romanian. He impressed people not only with his wit and knowledge but also with his touch of humanism and emphatic feelings.













The music and lyrics will be based on this poem of Eugène van Itterbeek:

BIENTOT

Bientôt j'abandonnerai mon corp
S Je te remettrai mon âme
telle que tu me l'as donné
e clair de lune pur, non souillé par la vie,
dont à present je la guéris.
Alors je me précipiterai vers toi
Dans ma première laine,
Blanche ou noire, non portée,
A la première aube,
Dans le silence matinal des sons de cloche,
Lorsque, non sollicité,
J'ai été couché sur la terre embrumée.
(from "Fables, prières et autres poèmes"
Edition Les Sept Dormants, Leuven, 2001)

The poem “Bientôt”, published in the “Fables, Prières et Autres Poêmes”, Edition Les Sept Dormant, Louvain 2001, written by Eugène Van Itterbeek

A very free translation of the poem into English is the following:

SOON


Soon I will give up my body
I defer my soul
as thou hast given me
moonlight pure, unsullied by life
which at present I healed.
So I'm down from there to you
In my first wool
White or black, unworn
At the first dawn
In the morning silence bell sounds,
When unsolicited
I was lying on the ground misty.

Concert Dates

  • May 22, 2012 - Bucharest, Romania

Fifteen Minutes of Fame for Eugène van Itterbeek with Georgeta Stoleriu and Violetta Stefanescu

Concert program

  • Suddenly, On the Ground Misty (Unsolicited)

    Rodrigo Baggio

    Rodrigo Baggio a guitarist and composer from Brazil, has been performed in many cities around the world such as São Paulo, Brasilia and Tatuí (Brazil), Paris (France), Quebec (Canada), Bremen (Germany), London (England), New York and Vermont (USA). As a performer, he has played concerts in different countries of the globe.

    Piece written from a parallel format of the poem from Eugène Van Itterbeek, using some phrases and words in repetition, in order to demonstrate the outcry of a person who is dying but does not accept that situation.

  • 9 Syllable Elegy

    David Brooks

    A prize-winning pianist based in New York, David Brooks has performed across Europe and North America, and is especially known as a champion for new music. As a composer and transcriber, he works to bring the next generation of piano and chamber music to audiences all over the world.

    9 Syllable Elegy concentrates on only the first line of Van Iterbeek's poem, obsessing over and re-ordering the words. This Vox Novus submission became the seed which eventually became a complete song cycle: First Steps, where each song therein is based exclusively upon the opening lines of poems.

  • Bientôt

    Sheila Forrester

    "Bientôt" is an adaptation of Eugène Van Itterbeek's poem of the same title. I chose to set the beginning and end portions of the poem because they seemed coherent and represented my understanding of the poem: a person's last thoughts before passing away.

    Sheila Forrester is a Canadian composer who received a D.Mus in Composition and Ph.D. in Music Theory from Florida State University. Sheila's musical awards include First Prize in Jihlava’s International Choral Competition, Leo M. Traynor’s Search for New Viol Music, and a Recording Grant in the Contemporary Record Society.

  • Paul Gelsing

    Première laine

    Only quite recently I started to take my composition activities further. Until now this resulted in a number of commissionings, and two prizes: in a Dutch national contest for choir a capella (2011), and the first prize of the 'Oberon Spring Composition Contest 2013', Richmond (VA).

    I decided to concentrate on the longing of the soul, that precipitates from above to reunite itself with its other half (or self), in the total innocence and surrender van Itterbeek depicts so beautifully.

  • Dans le Silence

    Fermino Gomes

    Fermino Gomes (Patos, PB, Brasil) studied theory with Gazi Sa and João de Barro at Caipira University of Paraiba (UNICPB), Brazil. As well as an active composer, Fermino performs on the viola (Brazilian 10 string-folk guitar) regularly. Fermino currently lives in New York City.

    Dans le silence explores the setting of Van Itterbeek’s poem, its time and place; the ultimate corporeal sensation before departing from this world to the next: the sound of bells, a fanfare to the opening of the gates of heaven. In the morning silence bell sounds At the first dawn

  • And Sleep Once More

    Collin Gosper

    Collin Gosper is studying a Bachelor of Music (Composition) at the University of Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Originally a songwriter he has furthered his love for music into the realm of Composition. He believes in the honesty and beauty that the intricacies of music provide.

    This piece is based on the mournful nature in which ones soul is deferred. As White Angels watch through pure moonlight we see pure life yet when we feel resignation to what we hold dear, the beauty of life fades in its shades of white to grey and to black.

  • Soon

    Anna Imaykina

    I’m a self-taught 22 years old composer and amateur singer. I like opening up performers’ soul through compositions inspired by their individuality. It’s amazing how great musicians can bring listeners closer to higher things through beautiful music.

    I hope this piece will make listeners want to read more Eugène Van Itterbeek’s poems and keep its beauty in their hearts. I imagined Georgeta expressing the deepest feelings of every single line through her breathtaking voice and Violetta perfectly creating a magical atmosphere of this poem (english translation).

  • Méditation

    Francis Kayali

    Francis Kayali is a Franco-American composer currently living in the San Francisco Bay area. Recent performances include Croquis du Nil by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and "Ravenous" by the Parhelion Trio.

    The subject matter and imagery of Eugène van Itterbeek’s poem seemed to readily call for a musical setting that would evoke French nineteenth century chansons – the music of Gabriel Fauré in particular – which is the style I sought to emulate here.

  • Mon Âme

    Alexander Kusztyk

    Alexander Kusztyk started taking piano lessons when he was 4 years old. He has composed for piano since elementary school. Now, at 19 years of age, Alexander is pursuing a career as a professional road cyclist as well as a degree in both art history and music.

    Mon Âme is a waltz based on Eugène Van Itterbeek’s poem, Bientot. The powerful first two measures set the piece in motion. It is an emotionally stiring piece with moving verses from the poem.

  • Bientot

    Akmal Parwez

    While studying electronics in Tokyo on a Japanese Government scholarship, composer-vocalist Akmal Parwez studied composition with Yasushi Akutagawa and Klaus Pringsheim. After completing his university studies (B.E., M.E.), he felt compelled to devote his life to composing, singing and teaching music. In the U.S. he studied composition with Florence Jolley, Leo Kraft, Samuel Adler(M.A., Queens College; Ph.D., Eastman School of Music).

    This short setting of 'Bientot' by the late Flemish expatriate Eugene Van Itterbeek - who was a professor of French literature in Romania for a number of years - is composed specifically for soprano Georgeta Stoleriu and pianist Violetta Stefanescu.

  • BIENTÔT

    Adrian Pop

    ADRIAN POP (b. Cluj, Romania, September 10, 1951) An outstading personality of the Romanian musical life, Adrian Pop studied composition at the Music Adacemy in Cluj, Romania. Recipient of numerous prizes and distinctions in his native land and abroad, among which: Romanian Academy Prize (1996), Cultural Merit Ordre (2008), the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2012).

    The pentatonic melody, the breathing phrases and the consonant harmony – here and then slightly altered by dissonant notes: a morning feeling, where the sense of iminent death is quietly dissolved in the image of the soul passing to the hands of the beloved, like a distant ringing of bells.

  • Misty

    Dave Ramsey

    Dave Ramsey graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in 2009 with a degree in voice. Since then he has been composing for ensembles of all sizes, and teaching voice and piano at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County, where the Rock Prairie Chamber Orchestra has premiered several of his works.

    What complements the french language better than impressionistic harmonies? The concept that stuck out in this poem was not the sense of urgency, but the juxtaposed concept of suspension. Lying on the ground misty.

  • Soon

    Jana Skarecky

    Canadian composer Jana Skarecky has written music for solo voice, choir, a variety of instruments, and orchestra. Her music has been performed on four continents. Her opera “Emily, the Way You Are” about artist Emily Carr continues to be enthusiastically received by audiences. Jana is also a visual artist. (See www.JanaSkarecky.com.)

    Death is coming – but there is no fear in returning to the source of one’s being. The sound of the bell at dawn can evoke many feelings – a solemn remembrance of a soul passing, a transformation, a celebration of what is to come.

  • Bientôt

    Pasquale Tassone

    Pasquale Tassone was a resident at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, where he worked with the composer, Olly Wilson. In June 2004, some of Tassone’s choral music was performed at the Artama Choral Festival in the Czech Republic. Currently Tassone is working on his first opera.

    Perceived as an Impressionistic soliloquy, my setting of Eugène Van Itterbeek Bientot utilizes the following lines from his poem:

    Bientôt j'abandonnerai mon corp
    Je te remettrai mon âme
    Dans le silence matinal, non sollicité
    Bientôt, Bientôt, Bientôt

  • Bientot

    Christopher M. Wicks

    Christopher M. Wicks holds a MM in Composition from the University of Montreal, and is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists. His music has been extensively performed in North America, besides performances in Europe and Korea. He is the organist at Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Salem, Oregon, USA.

    The language of van Itterbeck's poem is deeply evocative, oblique and deliciously unpredictable. I have sought to mirror these qualities in the musical language of my setting of four lines of the poem "Bientot," ending with a thrilled glimpse of the dawn ("aube...").