The Embassy of Romania organized a cultural event closing Romania’s six-month rotating Presidency of the European Union in the Republic of Slovenia. On this special occasion Romanian artist and composer Marius Mihalache and his Band, performed a breathtaking jazz concert at the Bled Festival hall, in front of an enthusiastic audience formed by representatives of the Slovenian authorities, diplomats, Romanian community, locals and occasional tourists.
“Săftiţa” is a project inspired from the Romanian folklore: the story of a Romanian peasant women. The musical performance of Mihalache & Band is mixing Balkan rhythms with traditional Romanian folk music built around the unmistakable sound of the cimbalom and accompanied by the long shepherd’s pipe and flute and other traditional Romanian instruments.
Born in Bucharest in 1974, Marius Mihalache is a famous Romanian artist and composer. He is known as the absolute maestro of cimbalom – a type of hammered dulcimer found mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, and he earned the surname as “The Magician of the Cimbalom”. With almost thirty years of experience in performing, Mihalache writes film and theatre music, runs international and national master classes on songwriting, film scores and cimbalom history, improvisation and performance techniques. Acknowledged for his originality in playing various jazz, jazz-rock, ethno-jazz and folklore scores, the musician successfully managed to impose cymbal even in grand classical music orchestras. He shared the stage with many famous artists such as Chick Corea (Bucharest, 1999), Gloria Gaynor (Palermo, 1992), Nina Simone (Rome, 1993), Kitaro (Bucharest, 2014), Steve Val, Mike Stern, Boo Boo Davis, Billy Cobham, Sergio Mendez, Larry Coryell, Philip Catherine, and more.
The presidency of the Council rotates among the EU member states every 6 months. During this 6-month period, the presidency chairs meetings at every level in the Council, helping to ensure the continuity of the EU’s work in the Council.
