UNIREA in Focșani, with Madrigal and Cantus Mundi

The National Chamber Choir „Madrigal – Marin Constantin”, conducted by Anna Ungureanu, gave an extraordinary concert in Focșani to mark the 160th anniversary of the founding of Colegiul Național „Unirea” in Focșani and the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities.

The Madrigal Choir was joined by 200 children from the Cantus Mundi choirs in Focșani – „CN Unirea” and „CN Unirea Junior”, conducted by Ana-Maria Rusu, and  „Pastia”, conducted by Ionuț Drilia – who took to the stage at the beginning and end of the concert.

The event was dedicated to the educational community of Colegiul Național „Unirea”, pupils and teaching staff, at the initiative of teacher Ana-Maria Rusu, a conductor and trainer in the Cantus Mundi National Programme, Romania’s largest programme for social integration through music, initiated by the respected conductor Ion Marin and run by the Madrigal Choir.

With a complex repertoire of madrigals and early and contemporary Romanian music, Madrigal and Cantus Mundi captivated the more than 350 spectators who filled the venerable college’s „Mihai Eminescu” assembly hall beyond capacity.

At the opening of the anniversary event, Colegiul Național „Unirea” in Focșani, through its headteacher, Prof. Cornel Noană, announced the naming of a classroom „Madrigal – Cantus Mundi”.

Every year, on 24 January, Romanians celebrate the Union of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859, achieved under ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza, an act of political will by the two Romanian Principalities and the first stage in creating the modern unified Romanian state.

Through its geographical position and administrative role, Focșani was a vital centre in the complex process that led to the union of Wallachia and Moldavia. Located on the former border between Moldavia and Wallachia, it was where the two joint institutions essential to the union of the two states were established and operated – the Central Commission and the High Court of Justice and Cassation.

Colegiul Național „Unirea” in Focșani is one of Romania’s oldest and most prestigious educational institutions, with 160 years of uninterrupted existence, celebrated in 2026. Founded on 7 January 1866, it was the first secondary school in this region and a major landmark of Romanian education.

Institutional partners: Senatul României, Institutul Cultural Român, ARCUB, Compania Națională Aeroporturi București, Opera Comică pentru Copii, Teatrul Național de Operetă și Musical „Ion Dacian”, Circul Metropolitan București, UNIMIR, Universitatea Politehnica București, USAMV Cluj-Napoca, Aqua Carpatica, Domeniile Sâmburești, Centrul de Cultură Arcuș, Regia Națională a Pădurilor ROMSILVA, Casa Corpului Didactic, Televiziunea română, Soundfeed

Media partners: AGERPRES, Agenția de cArte, Bookhub, București FM, B1 TV, B365, Euronews România, Itsy Bitsy, Leviathan, Munteanu recomandă, Prima News, Radio France Internationale România, Radio România Cultural, Radio România Muzical, Radio Trinitas, Revista Biz, Romania Journal, spotmedia.ro, TVR Cultural, Zile și Nopți

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NATIONAL CHAMBER CHOIR „MADRIGAL – MARIN CONSTANTIN”

Founded in 1963 by the legendary musician and conductor Marin Constantin (1925 – 2011), the National Chamber Choir „Madrigal – Marin Constantin” has become a benchmark for musical life and cultural diplomacy. 

The Madrigal Choir is defined by its distinctive sound, non-vibrato technique, stereophonic stage arrangement and imposing costumes. Its repertoire encompasses Renaissance, pre-classical and classical music, Romanticism, Byzantine music and contemporary Romanian and international compositions. The ensemble’s stage presence and membership have been continually refined, with critics comparing its performance to „a Stradivarius violin in Paganini’s hand”. 

The Madrigal Choir has received numerous international awards and appeared on the world’s most important stages in thousands of concerts and performances. In November 2016, Madrigal was officially recognised as an Ambassador of Freedom, Hope and Peace, receiving the „Jean Nussbaum and Eleanor Roosevelt” award at the United Nations Palace in Geneva during the Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security. 

The Madrigal Choir’s events in recent years have enriched the spiritual and cultural imprint of Romanian music around the world. In 2023, Madrigal performed in the United States of America after 35 years, on an extensive tour from the East Coast to the West Coast. In 2024, it undertook 4 international tours, with concerts in Peru for the first time and in Europe – from Rome to Chișinău and from Luxembourg to Brussels. The year 2025 brought Madrigal’s first tour of Kazakhstan, „Madrigal: Drumul Mătăsii”, and a spectacular return to Japan after 35 years, at EXPO 2025 Osaka and the Yokohama International Choral Festival. In November 2025, the Madrigal Choir, conducted by Anna Ungureanu, met audiences in Spain again after more than three decades, through cultural events that included filming among Mérida’s Roman ruins, Madrigal Gallery exhibitions and concerts in the grandest cathedrals and cultural venues of Córdoba and Madrid. 

Since 2011, the Madrigal Choir has run the Cantus Mundi National Programme, Romania’s largest programme for children’s social integration through music, initiated by the renowned conductor Ion Marin, which currently brings together 2.539 choirs and more than 86.000 children from Romania and the diaspora.