Sixteen folk music singers will compete for the title of the best singer of songs from the repertoire of Maria Dragan on August 28. The seventh contest-festival is held once in two years in the artist’s native village Balauresti of Nisporeni district in a bid to promote authentic folklore.
The program starts with laying of flowers at the grave of Maria Dragan. The folk music contest begins at 12:30pm with over 35 songs that were sung by the artist. At 2:30pm, the folkloric ensemble “Codrenii” from Cornesti town of Ungheni district will give a recital. The performance of the folk music orchestra “Busuioc Moldovenesc” starts at 3:00pm. Romanian folk music singer Constantin Bahrin is the special invitee.
Contacted by IPN, Stela Botez, soloist of the orchestra “Busuioc Moldovenesc”, said the festival has a special importance for those who want to perceive authentic folklore. “The goal of such festivals is to show the difference between CD music, market music and festival music,” stated the artist.
Folk music singer and specialist in national costumes Silvia Zagoreanu will conduct the award ceremony wearing a national costume typical of Maria Dragan.
The national music contest-festival “Maria Drăgan” is organized by the Ministry of Culture and the National Center for Conserving and Promoting the Immaterial Cultural Heritage.
Maria Dragan (1947-1986) was a soloist of the orchestras “Mugurel”, “Lautarii” and “Ciocarlia”.
