Special Projects

For fourteen years, Classical Is Fantastic: How To Understand Music has brought thousands of children to the Grand Auditorium of the Romanian Athenaeum

Music Made Easy is an educational project that began in 2023 and whose aim is to expand the longstanding Classical Is Fantastic series.

“Classical music is one of the original forms of nondiscrimination. Either you can play the notes well or you can’t. No compromise,” told us celebrated conductor Kent Nagano ahead of the GE Phil’s 2025–2026 Season Opening Gala.

The GE Phil team recently caught up with Gautier Capuçon at the end of the dress rehearsals for two sold-out concerts at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, in early June 2026. Making his debut in the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra’s Season, the renowned French cellist performed Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Lionel Bringuier.

Watch our talk with Leonidas Kavakos for insights into the artist’s beautiful mind and soul, and to learn more about his perspective on making classical music in the 21st century - on bringing forward what you believe is essential, while never ceasing to search for truth in humanity, and, through it, in art.

Katia and Marielle sat with us between their June 2025 performances for a spirited conversation about how important it is to keep alive that part inside of us that is always in awe, and how the language spoken by music would never betray us like words often do.

In June 2025, Elisabeth Leonskaja performed two concerts at the Athenaeum, offering a masterful interpretation of Mozart’s “untouchable” Concerto No. 24. Despite her modesty, which has made her somewhat media-shy over the years, she spoke with us and won us over with her humor, warmth, wisdom, and extraordinary candor.

For his second visit to Romania, performing with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra in two concerts of its 2024–2025 Season, the massively talented young pianist Federico Colli graciously took time to answer our many questions - posed in the spirit of getting to know him better.

In her second appearance at the Romanian Athenaeum - and her first with the George Enescu Philharmonic - trumpet soloist Tine Thing Helseth chatted with us spiritedly about her rich and eclectic musical journey, finding her own voice and the great things about getting older.

In May 2025, remarkable conductor Ana María Patiño-Osorio marked an exciting series of firsts on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum: it was her first time in Romania, her first time conducting the GEP Orchestra, and her first time collaborating with trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth and pianist Federico Colli.

Charismatic conductor Vasily Petrenko, who led the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra on April 16-17, during the Holy Week 2025, took a few minutes to talk with us about Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony - “one of the best pieces ever written”, music and grace in today’s world, and how classical music enriches humanity.