ADRIAN  POP (b. Cluj, September 10, 1951)
 
First musical studies with his father, Dorin Pop, eminent professor and choir conductor. Composition studies at the “Gh. Dima” Music Academy in Cluj between 1970 and 1976, with professors Sigismund Toduţă and Cornel Ţăranu.
 
A very promising talent, Adrian Pop won his first composition awards while still studying: the “Dinu Lipatti” Prize and the National Award of the Art Institutes (1974). A series of further distinctions followed, marking the progress of his career as a composer: the Romanian Composers’ Union Prize (1978, 1981, 1989, 2011), the “George Enescu” Prize of the Romanian Academy (Bucharest, 1996), prizes at the international composition contests in Tours and Arezzo (1979), Roodepoort/South Africa (1983), Trento (1983, 1985, 1987), Spittal/Austria (1986), Gran Canaria/Spain (2003).
 
A long term association bound him with the prestigious “Transilvania” State Philharmonic of Cluj, as an artistic advisor (1983 – 2004) and general director (1991 – 1995). Between 2008 and 2012 he has been Rector of the « Gheorghe Dima » Music Academy, where he is currently teaching composition.
 
An outstading personality of the Romanian musical life, Adrian Pop is the recipient of the Cultural Merit Ordre extended by the President of Romania (2008)  and of the « Ordre des Arts et des Lettres » conceded by the French Ministry of Culture (2012).

 

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PHIL KIRKMAN, Teaching Associate at Cambridge University, spends time working in the field of music, technology and education research. Before this he was a music teacher and later a high school Director of Music in the UK.

 

Phil's research interests include Innovative pedagogy and teacher education, New educational and creative technologies, Dialogic approaches to knowledge construction, and Learner agency and development. He is committed to widening equality in education and broadening our understanding of how educators can foster environments that facilitate individual and cultural development.

 

His current projects are developing our understanding of inclusive pedagogies for educational technologies, building on partnerships across arts-based research and practice. He regularly provides training for educational professionals both internationally and within the UK.
 
 
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ROULA SAFAR

 

Born in Lebanon, Roula Safar grew up with music and poetry. She studied music  (instrumental and vocal at the University), first in Beirut and then in Paris, got a degree in Musicology and a singing first prize  at the Conservatory of Bologna. She worked in the lyrical field, performing opera roles such as Dido (Dido and Aeneas), The Messenger (Orfeo), Ramiro (La Finta giardiniera) , Siebel (Faust), oratorio, lieder and melodies. She sang under the direction of D. Colemann, P. Davin, S. Denève, Mr. Foster, JC. Malgoire, P. Rophé.

In contemporary music, she created the role of " the tailor's wife " in the opera GO-gol by Levinas, The Aragon by Levinas, Women and Piranhas by F. Baschet , At night by B. Jolas , Meditation I and II and  Ficus Vitis by K. Haddad. She sings at the Salle Pleyel, Théâtre du Châtelet, at the Cité de la Musique, at IRCAM, Radio- France, at the Opéra de Montpellier, at the United Nations in Geneva, in various European cities, also in Africa and in the Middle East. She participated in various recordings of oratorios such as Franck Jumentier, Mendelssohn, Schumann and contemporary works such as The Aragon by M. Levinas (CD: Chamber music, rewarded in 2001), It is a dream by JL . Dhermy, Amal waqti by Th. Machuel (CD Antholog). Hortus publishes in 2009 her solo CD, Sacred Roots, followed in 2011 by the CD Orchards of exile.

Ranging repertoire at the crossroads of different cultures, Roula Safar offers recitals, accompanied by herself at the guitar and percussion, these works were arranged and harmonized or originally written for these instruments by herself, crossing genres and eras. She also sets to music poems and ancient texts reviving extinct languages. She participates in literary and musical programs on the theme of G. Sand and N. Bouvier, develops and creates poetic concerts on the theme of J. Richepin and P. Valéry .