More than 50 contenders will take part in the third singing contest Festival of Ballads organized by the public station Radio Moldova. October 20 is the last day for submitting application for registration. The two days of preselection will be followed by the contest on October 23 and by a scientific symposium and the Gala of Laureates on October 24. On this occasion, there was launched a book entitled “The Ballad: Identity, destiny, development” that contains ballads and scientific communications of the previous festival, IPN reports.
Musicologist Victor Ghilas said the ballad is not only a tradition, but also a state of spirit. It is very hard to discover authentic ballads. “The major goal of this festival is to stimulate interest in ballades and to maintain and promote the ballads,” he told a news conference.
Constantin Rusnac, secretary general of the National Commission for UNESCO, expressed his optimism about the festival’s impact on the promotion and conservation of this type of national music. “I think we must be glad that we reached the third such festival. The interest is increasing. There were printed two books. The people of science and many ordinary people show interest in this festival. The halls during the first two festivals were packed. I hope it will be even better at this year’s festival and the ballads will occupy the place they deserve,” he stated.
Radio Moldova director Alexandru Dorogan reminded that in 2014 it is five years since the ballad was included in the intangible heritage of UNESCO. “The fact that we reached the third festival shows that we are not very late. I think we reacted in time to save and maintain the heritage of our country,” he said. He noted that this year’s festival will include participants from Bucovina, Reni, Botosani and Iasi, while the special invitees are Teodora and Lenuta Purja from Agries, Bistrita-Nasaud County, Romania.
Academician Aurelian Danila voiced hope that the Festival of Ballads will be gradually extended and will involve competitors and invitees from the whole Romanian area and from the countries with similar musical traditions, such as Azerbaijan and the Baltic Countries.
The Gala of Laureates will take place in the big studio of the Radio House on October 24, at 5pm. It will be broadcast live by TV Moldova 1 and Radio Moldova. The winners of the contest will be chosen by a jury headed by lecturer Constantin Rusnac. The top prize of 10,000 lei will be awarded by the Ministry of Culture. There will be also handed over special prizes of 1,000 to 8,000 lei offered by the other organizers.
The event is organized by Radio Moldova in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, the National Commission for UNESCO, the Union of Musicians, the National Center for Conservation and Promotion of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the Cultural Heritage Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.
