Established in December 2011 by the Romanian conductor Christian Badea, the activity of the Romanian Foundation for Excellence in Music started already in the days before Christmas, with “THE MUSICAL CARAVAN”, its first project of social involvement of classical music. The project consisted of several concerts/visits at the pediatric oncology departments of two children hospitals – “Marie Curie” and "Grigore Alexandrescu” and at the social centers “The House of Hope” and “Don Orione” in Bucharest, bringing a smile and a musical gift for Christmas to the children and the old people stricken with cancer or with grave handicaps. The project was realized in collaboration with the Rotary Triumph Bucharest. "THE MUSICAL CARAVAN" series of concerts were repeated in subsequent years..
Another important project of the Foundation was the "London - Bucharest Festival Orchestra" which took place in two phases. The first phase consisted of a series of national auditions held during a period of 8 days in March 2012, in the music universities of Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Iaşi and also in Chişinau, by a panel formed of Christian Badea, Remus Azoiŝei, Mihaela Martin, as well as Martin Owen and Richard Simmons – principal musicians with the BBC Symphony. The panel heard over 400 applicants.
During the second phase of the project (April 2-8, 2012), the young musicians selected by audition, collaborated closely with invited guests from among the most prominent European artists – leaders and principal musicians of orchestras such as the London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Suisse Romande and Tonhalle Zurich and professors from the Royal Academy and the Guildhall School of Music in London. The project combined the educational objectives of the Foundation – through a series of master classes and lessons with the guest artists, with the performing ones - either in chamber music ensembles or in an orchestral setting. The week culminated with a Gala Concert, where all the participants performed together on the stage of the Athenaeum in Bucharest in THE LONDON - BUCHAREST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA. The program featured works by Mendelssohn, Dvorak and Beethoven.
In October 2012, the STRADIVARIUS string ensemble debuted at the Atheneum in Bucharest, with AlexandruTomescu as soloist and Gabriel Bebeselea as conductor, in a charity concert to benefit the Princess Margarita of Romania Foundation.
The baroque ensemble LA STRAVAGANZA with Giuliano Carmignola as soloist, debuted in May 2013 in a Gala Concert in Sibiu, launching the Sibiu- Hermannstadt International Music Festival. The Sibiu Gala Concert was also the occasion for the debut of the MOZART KAMMERPHILHARMONIE - the chamber orchestra of the Festival, dedicated mostly to the classical repertoire of composers, such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.
In May 2014, the Foundation organized the Sibiu - Hermannstadt International Music Festival. Over 8 days (May 24-31), the Festival welcomed over 100 artists from Romania and 7 other countries and presented 12 concerts in several locations throughout the city. In addition to the most talented young musicians from Romania, UK, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Denmark, Germany and Ukraine, the Festival welcomed such guests as Mario Caroli, Giuliano Carmignola and the Borodin Quartet. The MOZART KAMMERPHILHARMONIE, under the artistic leadership of Christian Badea, was the orchestra in residence at the Festival.
In May 2015, the Foundation initiated a new project, in partnership with the "George Enescu" Philharmonic - RICHARD WAGNER - PARSIFAL AT THE ATHENAEUM. The project debuted with the presentation of the 3rd act of the opera, with the collaboration of such Wagnerian soloists as Stefan Vinke, Eric Halfvarson and Bela Perencz. The triumphant success of the concerts represented the beginning of a long term artistic strategy of establishing a Wagnerian tradition of performance in Romania, at the highest artistic level, through close collaboration between the Romanian musicians and the best Wagnerian singers of the world.
Through its future projects, the Romanian Foundation for Excellence in Music aims to become an important international platform, open to the creativity of the Romanian musicians, especially the young generations, in close collaboration with their colleagues from other countries and with the best artists of the world.
In addition to organizing artistic events, the Foundation will continue to develop educational and social projects involving music and the young musicians, members of the artistic team of the Foundation.