2016 at the Romanian Cultural Institute comes to an end with a sing-a-long concert performed by Oana Cătălina Chiţu, one of Romania’s most celebrated voices, accompanied by Moldovan cimbalom virtuoso, Valeriu Caşcaval.

As Oana Cătălina Chiţu herself put it, “the concert is a Christmas story as well as a Romanian story, and the cimbalom, I believe, provides the best sound for these magical carols. Take it as present from me to audiences in London and all over the world.”

Oana Cătălina Chiţu studied piano, jazz and canto in Iași, Romania. After 1989 she moved to Berlin where she founded the Balkan music band Romença together with Serbian accordion player Dejan Jovanovic. She became famous  with the album 'Bucharest Tango', recorded in 2008. Owing much to Maria Tănase’s repertoire, Oana’s songs include famous tangos from interwar Bucharest and, recently, traditional carols from Romanian folk tradition. Her songs distil Romanian folk, jazzy, swing and flamenco influences in a distinctive, original sound.

Valeriu Caşcaval is a graduate of Gavriil Musicescu Music Academy in Kishinev and of the Superior School of Music in Hamburg, where he studied Theory and Composition. His artistic career is characterised by illustrious collaborations with great names of Moldovan folk music scene like Vasile Iovu, Nicolae Botgros, Ştefăneţ and Advahov brothers, among others.

Find out more about the event here.