Smaranda Oțeanu-Bunea – Vice-President (from 1990)

Born on December 2, 1941 in Râmnicu Sărat, music critic, musicologist and composer, she is member of the Romanian Composers and Musicologists Union as well as of the Romanian Professional Journalists Union (UZP), founder-director of Music Critics College (1978), Music Critics Union (1990), Children’s Comic Opera (1998), Stela Popescu Theatre (2016), Ambasadorii Music Theatre] (2017), of the Melos, Minisong, Monopol magazines (1990), of the Romanian Music Forum (2000). Founder-President of the Oedip foundation, she was Artistic General Director (1995–98), and Media Director (2000–02) of the National Opera in Bucharest.

Graduating in 1996 the Conservatoire of Music, Faculty of Composition with Alfred Mendelssohn, she pursued further studies in Romania, with celebrated Mihail Jora, Marțian Negrea, Ion Dumitrescu, Aurel Stroe, as well as abroad, in Austria, Germany, the US and Canada.

As a composer, Smaranda Oțeanu-Bunea wrote lieder, a variety of pieces for piano, choral works, Mozaic [Mosaic] for viola and clarinet, Nonet for wind quintet and string quartet, Suita în stil clasic [Suite in the Classical Style] for orchestra, chamber music works, film music, tone poems, puppet and theatre music etc.

Smaranda Oțeanu-Bunea is the author of several books developing on press reports (1973 – O lume la capăt de lume [A World at World’s End], 1983 – Nigeria – ţara ritmurilor fierbinţi [Nigeria – the Land of Hot Rhythms], 1986 – În fiecare zi, ziua Planetei Pământ [Each Day, Planet Earth Day], 1995, 1996 –Cântecele pământului [Songs of the Earth]). She also penned music criticism pieces (2004 – „File de Melos” [Melos Pages], 2006, 2008 – „File de ziar” [Newspaper Pages], 2012 – „File din cronica muzicală on-line” [Online Music Reviews Pages], 2015 – „Opera Comică pentru Copii – File de poveste” [Stories of the Children’s Comic Opera], „Un chihlimbar în soare“ [An Amber in the Sun], 2018 – „De la Aladin la Șeherezada, Teatrul Stela Popescu” [From Aladdin to Scheherazade, the Stela Popescu Theatre], 2016-2017 „O stagiune maraton. File dintr-o stagiune fulger” [A Marathon-Season. Pages of a Flash Season], 2020 – „Teatrul Muzical Ambasadorii” [“Ambasadorii” Musical Theatre]).

7-time recipient of music criticism awards (1979 – 2000), she received the Cuvântul Magazine Cultural Award (2004) and was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit, Knight Grade (2004), Officer (2011) and Commander (2014) by the President of Romania. Other accolades are the “Person of the Year” Excellence Award (2007), the Composers and Musicologists Union Journalism Award (2007), the Order of Journalists – First Class (Gold) by the Professional Journalists Union (2007), the Romanian Music Forum Excellence Award (2008), the VIP Music Speciality Award (2012).