Romanian Radio Big Band
Concert:
The Golden Stag International Festival, the Mamaia Light Music Festival, and many legendary recordings preserved in the archives of Romanian Television, created alongside some of Romania’s most celebrated pop, jazz, and light music artists, would not have been possible without the Romanian Radio Big Band. Hundreds of concerts performed at the Radio Hall, numerous events broadcast live on Romanian Radio stations, and albums released by Casa Radio Publishing House form the remarkable legacy of the public broadcaster’s ensemble.
Its appearances at the George Enescu International Festival, the RadiRO International Festival of Radio Orchestras, and events organised by ARCUB further confirm the ensemble’s outstanding artistic standards.
The Romanian Radio Big Band has long been a true school of performance, improvisation, and orchestration. Today, the ensemble brings together 18 outstanding musicians and remains unique within the Romanian cultural landscape.
Founded in 1949, the Romanian Radio Big Band initially performed as a smaller combo ensemble. In 1953, under the direction of composer, conductor, and pianist Sile Dinicu, the ensemble expanded by adding a string section, eventually reaching 45 musicians and becoming known as the Romanian Radio and Television Orchestra. Following 1989, it adopted the name it still bears today: the Romanian Radio Big Band.
Over the decades, its musical leadership has included distinguished conductors and composers such as Sile Dinicu, Cornel Popescu, Ion Cristinoiu, and Ionel Tudor. Since 2022, the ensemble has been led by another prominent figure in Romanian music: Simona Strungaru, pianist, conductor, orchestrator, and composer.
Under Simona Strungaru’s direction, the concert series The Magic of… was launched, celebrating the music of legendary jazz figures including Chick Corea, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Peter Herbolzheimer, Quincy Jones, Wayne Shorter, and Miles Davis, while also exploring stylistic themes through programmes such as The Magic of Funk, The Magic of Swing, and The Magic of Latin Jazz.
Throughout recent seasons, the Romanian Radio Big Band has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists including Stefano di Battista, Will Vinson, Tony Lakatos, Alex Sipiagin, David Kikoski, Tobias Hoffmann, Alice Francis, Gianni Gagliardi, and Emiliano Sampaio. The ensemble has also shared the stage with leading Romanian artists such as Irina Sârbu, Connect-R, Miruna Ionescu, Adrian Nour, Viorica Pintilie, Jazzappella, Florin Ristei, Ana Leonte, Sorin Zlat, Berti Barbera, and Amphitrio.
In recognition of its artistic excellence and versatility, the Romanian Radio Big Band, under the direction of Simona Strungaru, is regularly invited to perform beyond its regular season at the Radio Hall alongside leading soloists.
The Romanian Radio Big Band is an exceptionally versatile ensemble, comfortably moving between jazz, pop, soul, electro-swing, and funk. Its concerts often become multisensory experiences that combine live music with multimedia projections, choreography, and thematic exhibitions, creating memorable artistic encounters for audiences.
Simona Strungaru
conductor
Simona Strungaru is the conductor of the Romanian Radio Big Band and a member of the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists.
A conductor, pianist, orchestrator, and composer, Simona Strungaru has developed a rich and multifaceted artistic career encompassing a wide range of musical styles. Her repertoire spans from classical music to contemporary jazz and crossover projects, collaborating with ensembles ranging from chamber groups to symphony orchestras.
She is the conductor of the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra and the contemporary music ensemble SonoMania.
She has composed music for films including Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror (dir. F.W. Murnau), Malombra (dir. Carmine Gallone), Die Puppe, Die Austernprinzessin (dir. Ernst Lubitsch), Felix the Cat, and the musical Past Eight O’Clock (dir. Alexandru Pintică). She has also conducted some of Romania’s leading orchestras, performing her own compositions within cine-concert programmes presented by the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), La Rochelle Film Festival, and Animest.
Together with SonoMania, she has appeared at major festivals including the International Week of New Music (SIMN), Meridian, and Innersound.
In 2022, she composed the chamber opera It’s Your Fault, based on a libretto by Mara Căruțașu and directed by Elena Morar. The work premiered at the Odeon Theatre in Bucharest as part of the Opera in Your Pocket project, organised by the Goethe-Institut Bucharest and CIMRO / National University of Music Bucharest.
In 2023, she composed Gates for Big Band and organ, premiered at the Radio Hall in Bucharest during the International Week of New Music Festival, featuring organist Eduard Antal as soloist.
As a solo pianist, Simona Strungaru has performed under conductors such as Cristian Brâncuși, Tiberiu Oprea, Mihnea Ignat, Stijn Berkouwer, and Alfred Snel, accompanied by the Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Ploiești, the Bacău Philharmonic, the Oleg Danovski National Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Serghei Lunchevici Philharmonic, and the Organ Hall of Chișinău. She won the piano concerto competition organised by De Haagse Instrumentalisten in The Hague with Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major.
As a conductor, she has led numerous Romanian orchestras, including the Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Hungarian Opera Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca, the Banatul Philharmonic, the Timișoara Big Band, the Târgu Mureș Philharmonic, the Oltenia Philharmonic Craiova, the Sibiu Philharmonic, the Botoșani Philharmonic, the Oradea State Philharmonic, the Oleg Danovski Theatre Orchestra, the Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Ploiești, and the Pitești Philharmonic.
Since 2025, she has been conductor and co-founder of the Romanian Youth Jazz Orchestra (RYJO), an ensemble dedicated to young musicians.