SoNoRo Interferente (Interferences), the scholarship programme of the SoNoRo Festival, marks 20 years of existence, during which organisers have awarded more than 600 scholarships and contributed to the emergence of new generations of musicians.

'Twenty years of SoNoRo Interferente scholarships are, of course, a great joy. At the beginning, we started with just a few scholarship holders whom we brought to Sighisoara, I remember, to a masterclass organised by someone else at the time, another organiser who somehow hosted us, and after 20 years we can see the extraordinary results of those first participants. Florian Mitrea, for example, the pianist who took part in that first workshop, is now a colleague of Diana Ketler, the artistic director of the SoNoRo Festival, at the Royal Academy in London, where he teaches. After 20 years, if we are to take stock of what has happened, what makes me happiest is that we made the right choices and that most of the scholarship recipients we supported over the years have gone on to achieve something, with some reaching truly outstanding results. So all I can say is 'looking forward' and enjoying the next 10 years,' musician Razvan Popovici, founder of the SoNoRo Festival, told AGERPRES.

At a press conference held on Thursday at the headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), the musician said he was pleased that the more than 600 scholarships awarded have yielded results.

'We have winners of international competitions, teaching staff at major conservatories in Bucharest, Nuremberg, Freiburg, Brussels, Vienna, the Royal Academy, and among the violinists and cellists who took part we now have soloists in major orchestras in Brussels, Vienna, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin and so on. (...) I believe we should be very grateful that SoNoRo Interferente has reached the age of 20 in such a substantial and, I would say, beneficial way for Romania's musical life,' Popovici added.

For this year's edition of SoNoRo Interferente, Popovici said there will be 'three or four workshops, 40 selected scholarship holders, a lot of work and the desire to see how they develop over the course of those weeks of study and practice.'

Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute, Liviu Jicman, described SoNoRo Interferente as 'a long-standing programme' and a sign of responsibility on the part of its initiators.

'For the ICR, SoNoRo Interferente is a traditional programme that we are pleased to celebrate. We are, I would say, co-founders, together with SoNoRo, of this programme, and I believe it is a very important initiative which has grown beautifully over time. It is also a sign of responsibility that the initiators of the SoNoRo Festival have chosen to invest in the younger generation — a generation that has not only participated in the residencies in Montepulciano or in the SoNoRo Interferente programme, but has also had the opportunity to perform on the SoNoRo Festival stage, and today we are talking about appreciated, already established musicians who started from this programme. At the same time, for the ICR, alongside the events we organise abroad, this programme has represented an opportunity to invest in the new generation, to think about the future of cultural promotion and to offer this chance for interconnection, because SoNoRo Interferente is not only about masterclasses, workshops and training opportunities for young musicians, but also about interacting in a multicultural environment, meeting established musicians from other countries and working with them, either as role models or as partners,' Jicman said.

Also present at the press conference were former SoNoRo scholarship holders: pianist Ioan-Dragos Dimitriu, pianist Cristian Mihart and violist Alexandru Spinu.

This year's SoNoRo Interferente edition will include three workshops: at the International Artists' Residence in Busteni (April 3-9), at the Cultural Port Cetate in Dolj County (June 8-14), and at Palazzo Ricci in Montepulciano, Italy (October 5-11).

Scholarships will be awarded for violin, viola, cello, piano and voice, and young musicians will study alongside renowned professors from leading European music academies and perform on stages in Romania and Italy.

The SoNoRo Interferente scholarship, worth 1,500 euros, includes daily chamber music and solo instrument lessons for one week, accommodation and meals for the sessions held in Romania (Busteni and Cetate), as well as accommodation and meals for the Montepulciano session. Travel costs to the workshop locations in Romania and Italy will be covered by the scholarship recipients. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Petronius Craiu; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)