EUROPAfest is an international music festival held every May in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania. The festival is the only one in Europe which presents four music genres in a single event:

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, pop, and classical music, bringing together bands and classical musicians from 45 countries.City Slicker: Bucharest
The Independent, 19 April 2009 The festival includes competitions,

workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

, master classes,

jam sessions A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

, and concerts.

History

The festival concept started in 1993 and called Jeunesses Musicales International Festival. It hosted only classical music events, but the idea of the festival was changed in 2002. With the name EUROPAfest, three more music genres were added: jazz, blues and pop. In 2005 the festival came under the patronage of Princess Margarita and Prince Radu. Every year, the EUROPAfest brings more than 300 musicians from 45 countries.

Activities

Bucharest International Jazz Competition

The first day is dedicated to celebrating

Europe Day Europe Day is a day celebrating "peace and unity in Europe" celebrated on 5 May by the Council of Europe and on 9 May by the European Union. The first recognition of Europe Day was by the Council of Europe, introduced in 1964. The European Un ...

– with jazz, blues, pop, and classical music performed. Besides the European celebration, the Opening Gala includes performances by international artists, speeches by public and diplomatic personalities, and a presentation of the program for the following days. For the next days, the festival offers jazz, blues, and pop concerts performed by European musicians, both in traditional and unconventional concert venues. Jazz, blues, and pop concerts take place every day of the festival. National and international musicians perform in

. Instrumentalists and vocalists up to the age of 35 participate in the Bucharest International Jazz Competition, playing jazz to the audience and to jury members On its last edition, the competition takes place in the Auditorium Hall in the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

and at the Art Center Tinerimea Romana, ArCub. Jeunesses International Music Competition involves violin, flute, clarinet, piano and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

. It has three age categories up to the age of 30. Usually, the competition has around 100 musicians from 35–40 countries. The jury is made up of distinguished professors and international performers. The competition is followed by jam sessions and workshops under the guidance of international specialists. Jam sessions are organized between competitors and jazz musicians. Both jazz and classical musicians can attend workshop. Caffe Festival introduces the idea of concerts in unconventional venues. Concerts of jazz, blues, or pop take place in pubs, clubs, coffee houses, or terraces. The Caffe Festival has been held in

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and rol ...

Bucharest, Clubul Taranului, and Cafe L'Estaminet. EUROPAfest ends with the Gala, an evening when the best musicians of the festival perform and the public has the chance to find out the prize-winners of the contests. The night culminates with performances and jam sessions. The Royal House of Romania Diploma is given to a company which was a partner of the festival.

References

External links

EUROPAfest on Facebook

EUROPAfest on MySpace

EUROPAfest on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Europafest Music festivals in Romania Music festivals established in 1993 International music awards Romanian music awards Classical music festivals in Romania Jazz festivals in Romania Culture in Bucharest Spring (season) events in Romania

History

Activities

See also

References

External links