Romanian and Gypsy flavours

After the Saveurs hongroises festival, savour the richness and vitality of Romania's musical and dance traditions with Saveurs roumaines et tsiganes!
Once again, emotion takes centre stage. Through a concert, an educational encounter, a photo exhibition, and a dinner-dance, this event celebrates the festive and warm-hearted art of Romania’s traditional music ensembles (taraf) and the music of Romanian, both Roma and non-Roma, street and village musicians. It also pays heartfelt tribute to the great Romanian ethnomusicologist Speranța Rădulescu, who passionately dedicated her career to the promotion of these traditions. A true invitation to travel deep into the heart of Romania, where every note and every dance step tells a story.

Speranța Rădulescu (1949–2022): A life devoted to Romanian traditional music
Born in 1949 in Buzău, in eastern Romania (historical region of Wallachia), Speranța Rădulescu became one of the most influential figures in Romanian ethnomusicology. Passionate about music from a young age, she began her musical studies in Târgoviște before moving to Bucharest to study composition at the conservatory, now the National University of Music Bucharest.
From 1973 to 1990, she worked in ethnomusicological research at the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore in Bucharest. After 1990, she continued her path at the Romanian Peasant Museum, where she directed the ethnomusicology department. She intensified her field research, exploring almost every region of Romania to document often overlooked musical heritage.
Author of seven reference books and dozens of articles published in collective volumes in Romania and abroad, Rădulescu presented her work at conferences across Europe, the U.S., China, and Senegal. Her influence extended far beyond academia.
She also played a crucial role in promoting traditional Romanian music by producing numerous recordings. Highlights of her work include a six-album collection on Romanian taraf (Document collection), the Ethnophonie series (30 CDs), and 17 additional CDs released in France, Switzerland, the U.S., and Germany.
Between 1988 and 2019, she organised dozens of traditional music concerts across Western countries. A tireless discoverer of talent, she recorded and promoted the most authentic Romanian ensembles. It is thanks to her that internationally acclaimed groups like Taraf de Haïdouks and Fanfare Ciocărlia came to light, becoming symbols of Eastern Europe’s folk music revival.
Speranța Rădulescu passed away on January 22, 2022, leaving behind an invaluable legacy that continues to inspire researchers, musicians, and world music enthusiasts.

CONCERT – Thursday, May 8, 8:00 PM – MEG

8:00 PM – The "New Haïdouks"

Concert duration: 70 minutes
Music from the Danube Plain with Taraf de Teleorman
The Danube Plain, in southern Romania, is home to a rich repertoire of traditional music and dance. In the 1990s, this heritage gained international recognition through Taraf de Haïdouks, a group co-founded by Speranța Rădulescu (Bucharest) and Laurent Aubert, founder of ADEM in Geneva.
Today, a new wave carries this tradition forward with the acclaimed Taraf de Teleorman, a Roma ensemble that embodies this heritage with extraordinary vitality and creativity. In the spirit of their predecessors, they perform fiery love songs that are emblematic of Teleorman, their native region southwest of Bucharest. Their repertoire also includes ancient ballads and lively dance suites, performed with contagious energy. True heirs of the legendary lăutari (Romanian traditional musicians, often Roma), they continue to shape Romania’s cultural imagination.

Line-up:
Marian Sandu: vocals, cobză (Romanian lute)
Florin Marin: vioară (violin)
Sandu Buduruș: acordeon (accordion)
Laurențiu Burcea: țambal mic (small cimbalom)
Marian Burcea: bas (double bass)

Ticket prices:
- Full price: CHF 30.–
- Discounted*: CHF 28.–
- AVS/AI: CHF 25.–
- ADEM members: CHF 20.–
- Students, apprentices, job seekers: CHF 15.–
- Children: CHF 10.–
- 20 years/20 francs: CHF 8.–

*AMR, SAMEG, UN, Barbier-Mueller, professionals, Côté Courrier card, Agenda Club, Pass Circulez

Friday, May 9, 12:30 PM – MEG

INSTRUMENTAL ENCOUNTER with Beatrice and Florin Iordan

An afternoon of music and stories
Location: MEG (Music Room, 2nd floor), 65 Boulevard Carl-Vogt, 1205 Geneva
Free – Limited seating. Please confirm attendance via email: info@adem.ch

These instrumental encounters, co-organised by MEG and ADEM, offer an intimate musical moment where artists share their craft and knowledge—a vibrant and fascinating exchange for anyone curious about the instruments presented.
Beatrice and Florin Iordan, founding members of Trei Parale—a key group in the revival of Romanian music—are also museographers at the Romanian Peasant Museum in Bucharest. They will present a collection of traditional instruments once widely used in rural Romania and now being rediscovered in urban contexts. Their talk will highlight both wind instruments (various flutes and bagpipes) and string instruments, including the expressive Romanian cobză (lute).

Saturday, May 10, 6:30 PM – Faubourg Hall

DINNER-DANCE – Into the Heart of Romania

🎻 With Ioan Pop and the Iza Ensemble

Join us for a festive evening of music and dance led by Ioan Pop and the Iza Ensemble, prominent figures of Romania’s traditional scene. This dinner-dance offers a vibrant opportunity to gather and share joyful moments. As a nod to the March Hungarian Flavours festival, the evening will also feature some Hungarian dances from Transylvania.
Ioan Pop invites us into a spirited evening where the Iza Ensemble embodies the vitality and warmth of Romanian celebrations. With bowed and plucked string instruments, percussion, dances, dazzling improvisations and high energy, the group will take us on a journey through the Romanian regions of Maramureș, Bucovina, and Transylvania.

Line-up:
Ioan Pop: vocals, ceteră (violin), braci (viola), zongoră (guitar), tilincă (harmonic flute), dance
Ioachim Făt: ceteră
Grigore Chira: bas (double bass), zongoră, dobă (drum with cymbal)
Anuţa Pop: vocals and dance
Voichiţa Tepei: vocals and dance

🎟️ Ticket prices:
- Full price: CHF 25.–
- Discounted*: CHF 20.–
- ADEM members and dance evening participants: CHF 18.–

*AMR, SAMEG, UN, Barbier-Mueller, professionals, Pass Circulez, AVS/AI, students, apprentices, job seekers, children.

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ROMANIAN DANCE WORKSHOP

Friday, May 9, 7:00–9:30 PM & Saturday, May 10, 1:00–3:30 PM

📍 ADEM Montbrillant, Rue de Montbrillant 10, 1201 Geneva, 50 spots available
Prices (per session):
- Full price: CHF 20.–
- Discounted*: CHF 15.–
- ADEM & Dance evening participants: CHF 12.–
*AMR, SAMEG, UN, Barbier-Mueller, professionals, Pass Circulez, AVS/AI, students, apprentices, job seekers, children.
Both sessions: CHF 30.–

Renowned for their personal yet faithful approach to tradition, the musicians and dancers of the Iza Ensemble channel the energy of Romanian festive traditions. This workshop focuses on northwest Romania, particularly Maramureș—a region where dance remains central to social life today. Participants will explore several iconic dance forms, both group and couple dances, involving a variety of rhythms, tempos, and movements. Among them: jucat (line or circle dance), învârtita (rotating couple dance), and bătuta (foot-stomping rhythmic dance). Some Hungarian dances from Transylvania will also be introduced.