One writer and seven composers explore together seven powerful human affects
Join us online for a new episode of the music & literature series “7 eMotions”, presented by RCI New York in partnership with ISVOR Cultural Association Bucharest, which delves into the complicated inner lives of artists aiming to reveal how their rich panoply of feelings is turned into timeless works of art. The author and cultural journalist Ioana Bâldea Constantinescu and seven contemporary Romanian composers explore seven powerful human affects that define our psychological life and inspire our creativity: disgust, anger, sadness, surprise, contempt, happiness, and fear.
The sixth episode of the series, an original composition by DanDe Popescu with Răzvan Florescu on vibraphone, deals with the much sought-after feeling of happiness.
Ioana Bâldea Constantinescu graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Bucharest, with a specialization in English and Spanish, and a master's degree in American Cultural Studies. From 2001 to 2020, she worked as a journalist at the Romanian Broadcasting Society. She is well known for her interviews with Richard Flanagan, Mathias Énard, Andrew Solomon, David Mitchell, Elizabeth Gilbert, Isabel Allende, Evgheni Vodolazkin, David Lodge, Jonathan Safran Foer, Nicole Krauss, Care Santos, Sarah Dunant, Alain de Botton, Guzel Yakhina, Jonah Sachs, John Freeman, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Jhumpa Lahiri among others. Since 2019, he has been writing the Off Air editorial for Forbes Life. Ioana Bâldea Constantinescu is also a translator and, most of all, appreciated writer. Her first two novels „Dincolo de portocali” / ”Beyond the Organge Trees” (nominated in 2016 for the Observator Cultural magazine awards) and ”Nautilus” were published by Humanitas Publishing House in 2015 and 2017. In 2019 she published at Nemira Publishing House „Poveste pentru Maria” / ”Story for Maria”, volume nominated, in 2020, for the Writers' Association Awards. Ioana also publish short stories and essays in the anthologies “Selfie” (Arthur Publishing House, 2018) and „Dragă Virginia” / “Dear Virginia” (Black Button Books, 2019). In 2020, Ioana launched her own platform, ioanabaldea.com, and the PLAY podcast, a meeting place for lovers of vintage conversation, with a touch of playfulness typical of 21st century creativity.
DanDe Popescu (1985, Slatina, Olt county) was born into a family of musicians and started his musical training with his parents. He graduated highschool in Timișoara and went on to study at the National University of Music Bucharest with Doina Rotaru, PhD. In the fall of 2015 he defends his doctoral thesis titled "A Critical Overview of Minimalist Techniques in Musical Composition", developed under the guidance of Liviu Dănceanu, PhD. Several of DanDe Popescu's works were presented in concerts organized by the National University of Music Bucharest, the „George Enescu” National Museum, The Cultural Center Palatele Brâncoveneşti (Mogoşoaia), Institut Hongrois - Collegium Hungaricum (Paris) and in several editions of the Timișoara Muzicală Festival, International Week of New Music (SIMN - Bucharest), CIMRO Days (Bucharest), InnerSound (Bucharest), "Enescu and the music of the world" International Festival (Sinaia), Meridian International Festival (Bucharest) and Modern Cluj. As a composer he won numerous awards at various competitions as well as commissions by the Romanian Cultural Institute, the "George Enescu" National Museum or the Goethe Institute Bucharest. Since February 2019 he is a permanent member of the Jepun Bali gamelan.His composition entitled Panguripan is dedicated to the ensemble and was selected for the 2020 edition of the ConnectArts - Perspective project. Alongside composition, DanDe Popescu is an adjunct professor at the National University of Music Bucharest and a sound producer at the National Broadcasting Company.
Răzvan Florescu graduated from the National University of Music Bucharest 's master's studies at the Jazz department, class of Dr. Mircea Tiberian, in 2022. He also pursued his undergraduate studies at the National University of Music Bucharest (UNMB) at the Percussion section under the guidance of Dr. Sorin Rotaru, graduating in 2020. He has an extensive concert activity as a soloist and part of chamber music ensembles, both in Romania and abroad, being also a collaborator of some of the most important orchestras in the country . He is currently a percussion teacher at the National College of Music "George Enescu". Throughout his career, he obtained numerous awards, among which: the Excellence Scholarship offered by UNMB in 2021 and 2019, the First Prize at the Hungarian Music Festival in 2019 (PERCUSSIONescu), the Second Prize in the solo section, in the chamber music section, and the special award for the best Romanian song in the "Dan Cumpătă" Remember Enescu 2017 (PERCUSSIONescu) contest.
The artistic team of the project also include: Bogdan Vuluță – music director; Andrei Barbu - sound designer; Florin Ghenade – video director; Irinel Cîrlănaru – photography, editing, color grading; Daniel Ivașcu – graphics; Oana Ivașcu – producer and coordinator.
Project co-funded with the support of AFCN Romania.
Photos - Florin Ghenade / ConnectArts
Next in the series: fear.
Watch the previous episodes here:
Ep. 1 / Disgust
Ep. 2 / Anger
Ep. 3 / Sadness
Ep. 4 / Surprise
Ep.5 / Contempt