Summer Guitar Festival in Târgu Neamț

Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30, 2026, at 7:00 PM

"Ion Creangă" House of Culture Târgu Neamț

   For a weekend, the magic of the guitar takes over Târgu Neamț, in a mini-weekend festival of joy and music as it should be. On Saturday, August 29, 2026, on the first evening of the festival, the audience has the opportunity to meet the fabulous guitarist Maxim Belciug and Gabriel Bălașa, an inspired and appreciated percussionist, for a blue music concert, with waltzes, tangos, Brazilian rhythms, flamenco virtuosity, and romantic melodies, played by a guitar stirred by pantam and percussion. And on Sunday, August 30, the Guitar Estival proposes an opera evening.
   Soprano Alexandra Știrban will lead her audience, with passionate guitar accompaniment, into a sound universe of astonishing beauty.

   Saturday, August 29, 2026 – an evening of blue, dreamlike music

   On the first evening of the Guitar Estival, let yourself be enveloped by blue music with dreamlike iridescence created by the sensational guitarist Maxim Belciug together with Gabriel Bălașa, an inspired and clever percussionist, appreciated for his creative presence. The two will offer a dreamlike performance, with waltzes and tangos, with Latin American dances and colorful exotics, in an exuberant blend of classical and improvisation, colored by a contagious joy of playing.

   Maxim Belciug, a classical artist in his training and preferences, is a well-known name. He is the master of the guitar and of enchantments, the one who stubbornly believes that beauty will still save the world. He has performed in Paris, Rome, Venice, Warsaw, Belgrade, Vienna, Stockholm, Budapest, as well as on all the major classical music stages in the country. Gabriel Bălașa is, in turn, another frequently encountered name on the under and overground music scene. He has performed at national and international festivals in Romania, Hungary, Portugal, France, England, Germany, China, India, and has played alongside great names of the Romanian scene. Together, Maxim Belciug and Gabriel
Bălașa form an unusual duo, as is their music. Their pleasure of playing creates sounds that warm the heart, and the music invented on the spot engages the audience – to the point of trance – in sound spaces with luminous and healing energies. The harmonies take flight from the score and bring us a moment of childhood, despite the fact that
we live in a world not made for children.

   Sunday, August 30, 2026 – opera evening

   On Sunday, the Guitar Estival brings to the stage of the House of Culture an evening like in the great opera houses, where music and emotion meet in a moving way, to create a sound universe of a stirring beauty. Color, magic, rhythm and fantasy, loves and tears, lyrical shivers and moonbeams, in a refined concert, presented by soprano Alexandra Știrban, accompanied by Maxim Belciug, with his guitar as an orchestra.

   The evening's program proposes pieces by Handel, Scarlatti, Mozart, Puccini, Bellini, alongside well-known romances and canzonettas, all performed in an intimate and expressive chamber format, where music, freed from the conventions of grand staging, returns to its most natural dimension: that of the direct encounter between
the artist and the listener. Because before filling the great opera houses and becoming a spectacle and demonstrative virtuosity, bel canto was the music of salons and refined gatherings, a music meant to enchant, to move, and to create a deep connection between performers and the audience.

   The association between opera voice and classical guitar has a rich history on world stages, but it remains a rare occurrence in our country, which only adds to the charm of the invitation. Originally from Târgu Neamț and trained at the "Ion Creangă" House of Culture and then at the National University of Music in Bucharest, soprano Alexandra Știrban has distinguished herself through the elegance and naturalness of her interpretations, having tackled important roles from the lyrical repertoire over time, such as Pamina in "The Magic Flute," Lauretta in "Gianni Schicchi," Micaëla in "Carmen," or Zerlina in "Don Giovanni." Collaborations with prestigious orchestras and institutions at home and abroad, as well as numerous awards obtained in specialized competitions, confirm the maturity and value of her artistic journey. In turn, Maxim Belciug is one of the Romanian musicians who constantly explores new ways of bringing music and the public closer.
   Recognized for his projects that combine classical rigor with playful freshness and interpretive refinement, he transforms the guitar into an instrument with surprising expressive resources,
capable of reproducing orchestral sounds and painting true soundscapes. Together, the two create musical dialogues of great artistic finesse, in which virtuosity always remains in the service of emotion.

   The Guitar Estival is a project of the Lyra Kripto Association.
   Communication partners: Libertatea, Vorbitorincii, Radio România Muzical, Catavencii. Media partners: DCNews.ro, mplustv.ro [1], mplusfm.ro [2], neamt24.ro [3], terrafm.ro [4], ZiaruldeRoman.ro, contacteculturale.ro [5], spatiulconstruit.ro [6], zilesinopti.ro [7], ultima-ora.ro [8], presshub.ro [9], e-zine.ro [10], agentiadecarte.ro [11], activenews.ro [12], bookhub.ro [13], ceascadecultura.ro [14],
revistatango.ro [15].

The concerts start at 7:00 PM and take place in the performance hall of the "Ion Creangă" House of Culture in Târgu Neamț (Ștefan cel Mare street no. 55, Târgu Neamț).