The Iași Byzantine Music Festival will organise, for the first time, the International Symposium “The Church as a Singing Family in the Christian Tradition”, dedicated to the communal role of church music and the relationship between liturgical tradition and the Christian family.
The event will take place from 23 to 28 May. Considered the largest festival of its kind in Romania, it aims to promote the authentic traditions of Byzantine chant while also highlighting the connection between church music and Byzantine-inspired secular music.
Organisers emphasise that, over the centuries, Moldavia has preserved the spirit of Byzantium alive, while Iași has become one of the most important cultural and musical centres of the Byzantine tradition.
Edition dedicated to the Mother of God
The festival programme includes concerts organised in Iași, Botoșani and Piatra-Neamț, mosaic workshops, a gathering of church chanters and the Byzantine Music Olympiad.
This year’s edition is dedicated to the Mother of God and holy women, a theme reflected in the repertoire performed by renowned choirs and Byzantine groups, including Tronos and Byzantion, as well as children’s choirs, local ensembles, and invited soloists.
Lecturers and performers from Romania, Greece, the United States, Serbia, Finland, Estonia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia and North Macedonia will participate in the festival’s academic and musical events.
The events are being organised in the context of 2026, which the Romanian Orthodox Church proclaimed as the Solemn Year of the Pastoral Care of the Christian Family and the Commemorative Year of Holy Women in the Calendar.
The full festival programme will be available on the official website.
Photo: Basilica.ro / Raluca-Emanuela Ene
