Antonel Temistocli, the Royal Choir’s conductor – a youth ensemble under the high patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Radu of Romania, says that his love for music began in the Church in childhood.

“Compared to other children who had the opportunity to study at specialized schools, I exercised this passion in the Church, where I discovered it. Given that in the Orthodox Church, the music in the worship is vocal, I started to use this “instrument” and love it more and more,” said Antonel Temistocli, the youngest conductor in the history of the Romanian Royal Choir.

Performance music should please the audience, and church music should thank God

With a career on the rise, Antonel Temistocli did not move away from the Church. In parallel, he conducts the Evia choir at Brâncuşi Parish in Bucharest and draws attention to the fact that church music must help the believer pray.

The young musician makes a clear distinction between show music and “chant stand” music.

Even if both are born the same, there are differences in the outcome of the two. The concert music is aimed at the audience and is built in the manner of the show. Therefore, the success of the concert is observed by the reaction of the public, which usually crowns the work of the ensemble with deserved appreciation.

“On the other hand, church music, also known as chant stand music, targets another type of interlocutor. In this case, the choir must do nothing but use the liturgical hymns to help the believer pray in the Church. The choir and the conductor must understand the message of each work and express it properly.”

“Unfortunately, from my experience, I saw that you could easily cross the line that delimits these two types of music, to turn chant stand music into a show. I don’t want to say that this kind of music has to be just ambient, a musical paste that you don’t even notice, but you have to follow the proper rules and manner of singing to accomplish its purpose. The show music must thank the audience, and the music in the Church must thank God,” Antonel said.

The musical project at Brâncuşi Parish is at the beginning, Antonel Temistocli confessed. In December 2020, they released an album of Christmas carols entitled “Peace on Earth”.

“Working to complete an album is an extensive job. What is really hard? The combination of sound perfection with spirit and emotion of the moment. Finally, we managed to build something beautiful. I can say with certainty that the Evia Choir’s “Peace on Earth” carol album was a complete success. This project represents for me and for my colleagues an achievement that satisfies us and is, at the same time, the first step towards a road full of musical performance.”

The Evia choir includes young musicians, recognized at a national and international level, including George Virban, soloist at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, or Andrei Mihalcea, soloist at the Children’s Comic Opera in Bucharest.

The years spent at the Theological Seminary in Galaţi helped him a lot in the musical field, Antonel confessed, especially since he had the chance to train under the coordination of an excellent professional.

“I talk about Master Eugen Dan Drăgoi, a personality that formed my perception of music and choral art. In addition to the talent of conductor that he possesses, his pedagogical tact helped me to learn extraordinary things, and at the same time, he gave me the confidence and the impetus to study the art of conducting.”

After entering the faculty, God helped him meet Master Valentin Gruescu.

“During faculty, working with Master Valentin Gruescu did nothing but open new and new horizons for me, introducing me to professional conducting and the titanic work that a conductor must go through to achieve performance. Of all the qualities that Master Valentin Gruescu has, I believe that his ardour and respect for music were the cornerstones of his career as a conductor and composer.”

Antonel Temistocli: profile

Antonel Temistocli was born on March 7, 1999, in Galaţi. He attended the Theological Seminary in Galaţi, which he graduated in 2017. He is currently the conductor of the Romanian Royal Choir and the Evia Choir at Brâncuşi Parish in Bucharest.

He studies at the National University of Music in Bucharest, at the Academic Choir Conducting section, under the guidance of Prof. Valentin Gruescu.

Over the years, he has worked as a conductor in ensembles such as the Choir of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Galaţi, the “Camerata Juventus” Choir at “Costache Negri” Pedagogical High School in Galaţi, the Galaţi Archdiocesan Cathedral Choir, the “Juventus Academica” Student Choir at the National University of Music in Bucharest.

Royal Choir

The Royal Choir was founded in the first half of 2012 at the initiative of a group of students at the National University of Music in Bucharest, including Răzvan Rădos – founding conductor, Răzvan Apetrei, Lucian Luca and Mioara Buhălțeanu.

The inaugural concert of the Royal Choir took place on July 6, 2012, in the Kings’ Hall at Elisabeta Palace, in the presence of Her Majesty Princess Margaret, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and Her Royal Highness Prince Radu of Romania.

Photography courtesy of Corul Regal / Facebook