The "Sound of Music" season at Peleș Castle, after 10 years and numerous cultural events, receives a new look and a more comprehensive format, united under the name "Citadel of the Arts" – a new season whose debut was very successful in March of this year.

Saturday, April 20, 2019, from 4:00 PM, at the Peleș Castle Concert Hall The second event of the season will take place, marked by the approaching Easter Holidays. Invited to be part of the "Citadel of the Arts" will be: Lamia Beligan, distinguished actress of the National Theater in Bucharest, and multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Szekely.

The artists have prepared an exciting program that will include the reading of selected poems, with philosophical and religious themes, accompanied by chords of traditional old Romanian and oriental music, offering an exhortation to meditation, moderation and a return to values from time immemorial. And this time, the opening of the evening will be marked by presentation of a new valuable element from the heritage of the Peleș National Museum.

The event will be hosted by Sebastian Crăciun, and admission will be free, by requesting the electronic invitation at rezervari.ucimr@gmail.com

The guest actress will read a selection of poems that carry a deep spiritual message, chosen from the work of writers such as Mother Teodosia Zorica Lațcu, Sandu Tudor, Radu Gyr, Daniel Turcea, Corneliu Coposu, Cezar Ivănescu and Vasile Voiculescu. The reading will be accompanied by a recital that will include traditional Romanian works, doines and ancient sounds of the Near East performed on instruments such as nai, bamboo flute, duduk, Egyptian kavala and millenary nei.

"These verses carry within them a strength, a light, and an intensity that only pain and mystical experience could give birth to." (Lamia Beligan) "I chose music whose source is poetry, in its divine sense, with themes and sounds that thrill you and perhaps still have the capacity to purify the thoughts of listeners today." (Nicholas Szekely)

Lamia Beligan – graduated from the Institute of Theatre and Cinematography in Bucharest, class of 1990, class of Professor Ion Cojar. She made her debut at the National Theatre in Craiova, with the role of Honey in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" by Edward Albee, directed by Mircea Cornișteanu. She played on the stage of this theatre until 1994, playing roles such as the Witch in "Ubu Rex with Scenes from Macbeth" by Alfred Jarry and William Shakespeare or Sonia in "Uncle Vanya" by AP Chekhov. She is currently an actress at the National Theatre in Bucharest. She made her debut on the stage of this theatre in 1979, with the play "Notes of an Unknown" by Fyodor Mihailovich Dostoevsky, in the role of Sasha. The roles that followed were: "The Girl from Andros" by Terențiu, Tamara, Sachs from "Whose Side Are You On" by Ronald Harwood, Veturia from "Vacancies at the Union" after IL Caragiale, Lucie from "The Egoist" by Jean Anouilh, up to Raisa Filippovna from "The Suicide" by Nikolai Erdman. She also played the role of Liza in the play "Children of the Sun" by Maxim Gorky, at the Little Theater in the capital.

She made her television debut with the role of Ioana in "Eyes That Cannot Be Seen" directed by Dan Necșulea, then played the role of Măriucă in "Baltagul", the television adaptation of the novel by Sadoveni, in 1998. In 2000, she appeared in the film "Poveste imorală" by Rodica Ojog Brașoveanu, in 2002 she played the role of Ana in "Tinerețea lăcustelor", and in 2006 she played the role of Tania Belinski in the series "La încurță".

In the field of film, she played numerous roles such as: Gioia in "Sand in the Urns" directed by Frieder Schuller, a German-Romanian co-production, in 1986; Edith - "Natures mortes" directed by Patrick Malakian, 2000; Therese - "Le Pere Goriot", directed by Jean - Daniel Verhaeghe in 2004 or Ida in "Na vlasti nebespeci" (At Your Own Risk), directed by Filip Renc, in 2008.

She was decorated by the President of Romania with the Medal of Cultural Merit. In 1999 she was awarded the Foundation Prize Silvia Popivici for best actress in 1998 and many other awards and nominations such as: the Performance Award for the role of Gwendolline in the musical comedy based on the play "Good evening, Mr. Wild" at the Liverpool International Festival in 1990 and the Silver Lion for the film "Hotel de lux" directed by Dan Pița, in which she played the role of Marta in 1992.

Nicholas Szekely – an engineer by profession, he graduated from the Faculty of Metallurgy at the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute, but his entire personality and free time were occupied by his preoccupations with the arts, in general philosophy, music and poetry. His passion for music led him to the classical guitar, so in 1987 he participated and won 1st place at the National Classical Guitar Festival in Sinaia.

After 1988 he settled in Hunedoara, where he continued his musical interests, teaching others the art of guitar playing. In the 1990s he was a co-organizer of the "Classical Guitar Days" festival, in which guitarists from Romania and abroad participated. On this occasion he encountered this instrument for the first time. His guitar playing activity continued with various recitals (the "Musical Autumn" festival, "Classical Guitar Days"), and in 2007 he had his real encounter with the lute family. The "Huniadi Cantores" group brought Nicolae Szekely a special instrument: the vihuela, an instrument from the Renaissance period, from 15th century Spain.

After a year, he ordered a lute, then a vihuela (built by the same luthier – Gyorgy Lorinczi), instruments that captured his entire passion for music. He intensively studied the repertoire for the lute and vihuela, was active at medieval festivals in the country: Sighișoara, Mediaș, Codlea, Tîrgu Neamț, Brașov, Râșnov, Bistrița, Cluj, Alba-Iulia, Sibiu, and participated in a master-class with Hopkinson Smith, who revealed to him the secrets of the special technique of these instruments.

He gives recitals of Renaissance music in various cultural spaces, especially fortresses, museum halls, old churches: Neamț Fortress, Corvin Castle, Fortified Church of Biertan, Râșnov Fortress, Bastion Tower in Cluj, Mediaș Evangelical Church, Bucharest: Student Culture House, UnTeatru private theater, Mogoșoaia Palace, Romanian Peasant Museum. Nicolae Szekely's musical world persists in the medieval and Renaissance repertoire, of unsuspected richness and depth. Authors such as Francesco da Milano, Enriquez Valderrabano, Miguel Fuenllana, Luis Milan, Pierre Ataingnant, Diego Pisador, John Dowland, Hans Gerle, Hans Judenkoenig, Hans Newsidler, Alonso Mudarra, Francesco Spinacino, are just a few of the immense literature for lute and vihuela.

Musical preoccupations are not at all limited to a specific era, period or genre, any encounter with real music becomes a passion. Thus, in my own collection, there have appeared, one after another, a cobza, blokflute (soprano, alto, sopranino), mandolin, percussion instruments (drums, flirting with jazz music), caval, nai, medieval or gothic harp, ney, Egyptian kawala, psaltery, pipa, quena, duduk, and many many more.

"Citadel of the Arts" Season is an event organized by UCIMR - the Union of Interpretative Creation of Musicians from Romania in partnership with the Peleș National Museum.

Cultural partners: Excess Music, the "Opportunities at home" program run by UCIMR, the Pro Valores Association.

Media partners: EnjoyTV Romania, Radio Romania Cultural, Cultural Observatory, Radio Trinitas, Book Agency, Ro Portal, Romania Pozitivă, Calendar Events, Bucuresteni.ro, Onlinegallery.ro, Jurnalmm.ro

Next event from the "Citadel of Arts" will be a tribute to Dinu Lipatti by the famous pianist Madalina Pasol and it will take place Saturday, May 25, from 4:00 PMEntry will be free by requesting an invitation at rezervari.ucimr@gmail.com