Classix Festival
Classical Music. Interdisciplinarity. Innovation.
Pentru anul 2025, ne propunem să maximizăm implicarea noastră în aceste proiecte, punând accentul pe acțiuni civice, cu influență majoră în dezvoltarea tinerilor, ajutorarea comunităților vulnerabile și defavorizate, promovarea culturii și deprinderea unui comportament responsabil față de natură.
Classix Festival is an international, independent festival held annually in Iași, which redefines the concert experience through interdisciplinarity and adapts it to the contemporary audience. It encourages cultural dialogue, shifts classical music away from the realm of elites, and brings it closer to the curious, the passionate, and the explorers through new technologies and new media arts.
The mission of the festival is to cultivate a new generation of audiences with broad cultural and intellectual interests, contributing to the revitalization of the artistic landscape of Eastern Europe. Classix promotes cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in a spirit of artistic diplomacy, bringing together national and European traditions, alongside contemporary artistic currents and forms of expression. By fostering excellence and collaboration between established and emerging artists, the festival transforms classical music into a universal language of connection and knowledge.
The aim of Classix Festival is to stimulate a new generation of audiences who expand their cultural and intellectual horizons, while contributing to Romania’s artistic revitalization and to strengthening its presence on the European cultural scene. The themes addressed reflect contemporary societal concerns, exploring the relationship between art, humanity, and progress, as well as the connections between national and European traditions, in an effort that promotes cultural diversity and local heritage on an international level.
Classix Festival embraces a contemporary artistic vision in which classical music tradition meets innovative forms of expression—from multimedia projections and videomapping to syncretic performances and interdisciplinary collaborations. Under its defining slogan, a contemporary classic affair, the festival transforms each edition into a sonic and visual journey that invites audiences to (re)discover the emotional power and contemporary relevance of classical music.
The concert repertoire blends established works with rare or rediscovered pieces, offering audiences the chance to hear compositions and artists not typically featured in the programs of traditional philharmonics in Romania. The distinctive character of the festival lies in opening the arts to a broad audience through a modern, accessible, and visionary approach that turns the musical experience into a dialogue between generations, cultures, and forms of artistic expression.
Launched in February 2020 and despite the pandemic context, Classix Festival has grown steadily, becoming one of the most important independent classical music events in Romania. Across the six editions held so far, the festival has brought together more than 350 international artists from 23 countries – Poland, Romania, Norway, South Korea, Austria, Germany, France, the United States, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Denmark, Switzerland, Israel, Finland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Iran, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia. The festival has attracted over 30,000 spectators in concert halls and more than 365,000 online, strengthening its role as a catalyst for cultural innovation and a promoter of international dialogue.
Alongside its concert program, the festival has distinguished itself through a wide range of related projects and activities. The Classix-in-Focus series has included 23 panels from the academic, cultural, and entrepreneurial spheres, 4 lectures, 6 exhibitions and openings, 2 book launches, 10 short film screenings, and other cultural interventions that build bridges between the arts, education, and innovation.
Furthermore, the Classix-in-Art Fund provides concrete support to young emerging artists through 218 masterclass sessions and 18 creative grants, totaling 18,000 euros, dedicated to musicians, visual artists, and performers with potential for international recognition.
Through all these initiatives, Classix Festival is not just an event, but a cultural movement that fosters dialogue between disciplines, democratizes access to contemporary sound art, and strengthens Romania’s position on the map of European classical music.
The festival enjoys the interest and support of international diplomatic and cultural partners, as well as a broad European reach.
Editions
Concerts
Artists
In-person audience
Online audience
In grants
Masterclasses
Classix 2026
Between March 1 and 8, the seventh edition of the Classix Festival will redefine the relationship between the human brain and creativity, through the ways in which we will perceive, imagine, feel, and heal through the arts. Through concerts, installations, lectures, and participatory formats, the festival will highlight the emotional, cognitive, and social functions of art.
How will art influence memory? How will it change our mood? What will happen in the brain when we create or listen?
In an era of increasingly capable artificial intelligence, Art & Mind will reposition irreplaceable human creativity at the center of attention: intuition, empathy, and imagination. Machines may generate, but only the human mind can offer meaning.
Classix Festival 2026 will be a call to presence, to slowing down, and to rediscovering the fact that, behind every act of creation, there lies the most complex instrument of all: the human mind.
Cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration (AFCN).
The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or for the way in which the project results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding beneficiary.
Masterclasses Classix in Art
As part of the fourth edition of the Classix Festival, and together with our main partner, Kaufland Romania, 68 masterclass sessions were held within the Classix in Art 2023 program.
During these sessions, 96 young musicians from Iași, Chișinău, Bucharest, Constanța, and Cluj-Napoca (students, undergraduates, and graduates of music-focused high schools and universities in Romania and the Republic of Moldova) benefited from the guidance of 16 professional musicians from the United Kingdom, South Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Finland, Poland, Switzerland, and Romania, across 8 distinct specializations.
Participation in these sessions was based on registration, subject to available spots, and on evaluations conducted by a committee of specialists in the respective fields.
As part of the third edition of the Classix Festival, and with the support of the festival’s main partner, Kaufland Romania, the Classix in Art Masterclass Program was launched.
A total of 53 masterclasses were held, led by musicians with international careers, facilitating the professional development of 56 young musicians from Romania.
Participation in these sessions was based on registration, depending on available spots, and on evaluations carried out by a committee of specialists in the relevant fields.
Classix in Art
Classix in Art 2022
The purpose of the Classix In Art call for projects was to offer support and encouragement for artistic practice, reminding us that art and creativity can express what words sometimes cannot.
Together with our main partner, Kaufland Romania, five scholarships of 1000 EUR each were awarded, one for each targeted field. The program attracted young artists, freelancers, independent artists, students, individuals without a stable income, and residents of Romania.
The theme of this year’s projects was “peace”, and at the end of the three-month creative residency, the selected artists presented a project relevant to their field of interest and artistic practice. Priority was given to projects that have a community impact and that can contribute to revitalizing cultural life.
Winners of the Classix in Art 2022 Scholarships
Music
Martyna Benedyka is a Polish soprano and visual artist who works across multiple media, including painting, photography, installations, video, and sound art. She graduated in 2014 with a First-Class BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art Painting from Gray’s School of Art in Scotland, UK, and is currently studying voice at the George Enescu National University of Arts.
Fine Arts
Adrian Cîrdei – Harcea Parcea is a street artist from Iași, active for 10 years, as well as an architect, illustrator, and activist. His work ranges from subtle interventions in the urban fabric to large-scale murals and installations, through which he seeks to challenge the way ordinary people relate to their surroundings and to raise awareness about neglected issues or social problems.
Dramatic Arts
Teodora Savu is an emerging playwright and theatre director who completed both her bachelor’s and master’s studies at the “Ion Luca Caragiale” National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, specializing in Theatre Directing. After finishing her master’s degree, she also began to explore the field of playwriting.
New Media
Adrian Manolescu – Adistu is a digital artist who explores animation, video mapping, VFX, multimedia installations, holograms, VR, and printed digital art. His works have been featured at events such as the Berlin Festival of Lights, Anim’est, Boom Festival Portugal, Burning Man (USA), Crest Theater Los Angeles, OFFOff Cinema Ghent, Utopia Cinema Toulouse, and others. He is also a director of surrealist music videos and films, a digital art instructor, and the director of the traveling festival Tripoteca.
Choreography
Alina Tofan is an actress/performer and a multidisciplinary artist who constantly moves between several artistic territories, exploring hybrid formats. She is also the co-founder of PLASTIC Art Performance Collective, where, for several years now, she has introduced eco-performance as both a practice and a vision within the Romanian cultural scene. She is currently pursuing her PhD at UNArte, where she is working on developing her own methodology for eco-performance.
Classix in Art 2021
The 2021 edition of the Classix Festival marked the launch of the first creative scholarships offered in the fields of music, visual arts, and choreography.
With the support of the main partner, Kaufland Romania, three scholarships worth 1000 EUR each were created to support young independent artists affected in one way or another by the pandemic and by the implicit pause imposed by restrictions.
The program was joined by young artists impacted by the pandemic: freelancers, independent artists, students, individuals without a stable income, and residents of Romania.
The theme of this session was “instinct,” and at the end of the three-month creative residency, the selected artists presented a project relevant to their field of interest and artistic practice.
Winners of the Classix in Art 2021 Scholarships
Choreography
Ancuța Macovei, scholarship recipient in the Choreography category, succeeded in opening the dance and art school Attribute Company. Here, Ancuța offers classical dance and modern–contemporary and jazz dance classes for age groups starting from 4 years old. The school also serves as a development environment for aspiring choreographer–instructors who need a space to practice their knowledge and craftsmanship.
Visual arts
Emanuel Chiriac, scholarship recipient in the Visual Arts category, used the scholarship to strengthen a preliminary component of a proposal to place a sculpture in a public space and invested in materials for creating two new works — “The Saving Thought” and “Longing for Wholeness.” The latter work earned Emanuel the Grand Prize for Artistic Creation, a 2000-euro award that represents a new step forward in bringing his submitted project to fruition.
Music
Cristina Beteringhe, scholarship recipient in the Music category, created the project Intersecții (“Intersections”), a series of interviews with nine Romanian musicians, capturing their testimonies and musical excerpts that convey emotions or ideas related to their experiences during the pandemic period. The interviews can be viewed on the blog dedicated to the project.
Classix in Focus
Classix supports young Romanian and international artists with promising careers, as well as interdisciplinarity and the syncretism of the arts, integrating them into a complex experience. It facilitates contact between young artists and conservatory students and established professionals through the Classix-In-Focus talks.
Backstory
The sixth edition took place between February 23 and March 2, 2025, bringing together in Iași and Bucharest artists from around the world. The program included 9 concerts and 3 bonus concerts held in the spring, featuring more than 100 artists from 14 countries: Romania, Poland, Austria, France, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Serbia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Spain, the Republic of Moldova, and the United States of America. Over 10,000 active participants attended the concerts and related events, while the livestreams generated more than 160,000 online views.
The festival featured 4 discussion panels and 2 bonus panels in the spring, 3 art exhibitions, 1 lecture, 1 book launch, 1 short film screening, and 1 showcase, expanding the dialogue between arts and ideas.
Through the Classix-in-Art program, three scholarships of 1,000 euros each were awarded, and 40 masterclass sessions were held, coordinated by international artists and mentors, dedicated to young musicians at the beginning of their careers.
The fifth edition of the Iași-based Classix Festival concluded on February 26, 2024, with a concert in Bucharest, after eight days of concerts and events held in Iași between February 18 and 25.
This edition featured 8 concerts in Iași and one in Bucharest, 2 exhibitions, 1 opening, 3 panels, a presentation, 1 animated short film screening, and 2 guided tours, with over 6,000 in-person attendees and more than 50,000 online viewers who followed the live broadcasts. Over 50 artists from 12 countries performed on the festival’s stages, while approximately 250 volunteers and creative industry professionals contributed to the organization of this fifth edition.
The masterclasses held under the Classix in Art program consisted of 28 sessions delivered by internationally established artists.
The fourth edition of Classix Festival took place in Iași under the theme of “Metamorphosis,” bringing together over 130 artists from 18 countries, 8 concerts hosted in the most prestigious venues of the city, along with 2 flash mobs, 5 panels, 2 art exhibitions, a short film marathon, a workshop, and 68 masterclass sessions attended by 98 young musicians, as well as 7 creative scholarships worth a total of 7,000 euros through the Classix in Art program.
More than 5,500 participants attended the fourth edition, while the live broadcasts of the events were followed by over 70,000 viewers.
The third edition of Classix Festival brought together over 60 artists from 13 countries for 8 concerts, along with 7 film screenings, an art exhibition, a debate, a lecture, and a guided tour.
Through the Classix in Art program, 56 young artists benefited from 53 masterclasses, while another 5 received Classix in Art scholarships, with a total value of 5,000 euros.
The festival took place in a hybrid format, registering an in-person attendance of 5,000 people, while more than 72,000 viewers followed the online broadcasts.
The second edition of Classix Festival illustrated a collective celebration of authentic human experiences and took place in a hybrid format (online and in person), following a long pandemic pause in the cultural and concert life of music lovers. Eleven artists from six countries participated in five concerts, which gathered an in-person audience of 537 spectators and over 62,000 views from the live video broadcasts. The related events included two creative entrepreneurship panels and a book launch.
The first edition, held in February 2020, brought together 10 nations in a cultural, diplomatic, and economic exchange, hosting more than 20 international artists in 7 concerts, 3 educational dialogues dedicated to the creative industries, and 2 entrepreneurship panels. The concerts attracted 3,000 attendees, predominantly young people (under 35).
