Film composer and virtuoso musician.
Born in Romania, Alexandru Bălănescu is a prolific composer and one of the most visionary and exciting violinists of our time. As leader of the Bălănescu Quartet, which he founded in 1987, he helped transform the string quartet from a "classical" ensemble into a musical entity that is at the heart of the rejuvenation of new music, revolutionizing the repertoire and the relationship with audiences.
Throughout his career, Bălănescu has been inspired by his collaborations: in the world of dance, Pina Bausch, Meryl Tankard, Jochen Ulrich, Virgilio Sieni; in theatre, with Pippo Delbono, Matthew Dunster (for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Globe Theatre), Chiara Guidi (for the Compagnia Raffaello Sanzio); in film he has twice received the Gopo Award for Best Original Score, in 2007 for How I Spent the End of the World (dir. Cătălin Mitulescu) and in 2016 for The Magic Mountain (dir. Anca Damian) and the FIPA award for The Scandalous Lady W (dir. Sheree Folkson, BBC films).
Bălănescu has refused to acknowledge the divisions between different musical fields, consequently working with artists as diverse as Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, David Byrne, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Jack De Johnette, Ornette Coleman, John Surman, Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode and Grace Jones.
His first opera, Treibgut/Flotsam, a co-production between Internationales Donaufest and Theater Ulm, premiered in July 2016. Recordings of Bălănescu's original works, Possessed, Luminitza, Angels and Insects, Maria T, An Introduction to the Balanescu Quartet, have been released by MUTE records. Recently, Bălănescu signed with UNIVERSAL records and a new album is imminent.
Balanescu Quartet Program
George Enescu, Rhapsody No 1 (arranged by Alexander Balanescu)
Alexander Balanescu Suite from MARIA T Mountain Call, Aria, Interlude, The Young Conscript and the Moon, Life and Death
Alexander Balanescu Suite from LUMINITZA East, Luminitza, Mother, Democracy, Revolution
The concert will take place on 9 December in Timisoara, in the imposing church of the New Millennium Reformed Centre, on Splaiul Morarilor 7. The event is part of the REVerse Poetry project, a festival dedicated to the Romanian Revolution, included in the Timisoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture programme. The revolution started here, in the multi-ethnic and multicultural city of Timișoara. In December 1989, it was chanted: Today in Timișoara, tomorrow all over the country! And so it was! The festival will run from 9-20 December 2023 and each edition will offer artists a new theme. In today's general socio-political conditions, Reflecting Absence is a necessary act of memorabillia and the theme of this edition.