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MUSEUM ANNOUNCES FUNDRAISER FOR INJURED ROMANIAN MUSICIAN

Two young Romanian musicians, both with a dream of performing in the U.S. and visiting the Grand Canyon, had a tragic auto accident on the way to the Grand Canyon and Alin Ionescu was left a parapalegic. He was admitted to Flagstaff Medical Center on August 20 and through rehabilitation he has regained the use of his left leg, but not his right. The Museum of Northern Arizona and local healthcare workers invite you to a piano concert fundraiser by his brother Ion Ionescu on Friday, September 16 at 7 p.m. in MNA’s Branigar Hall. Ion, a contemporary composer and pianist, will perform to raise money towards Alin’s enormous hospital bills, hoping to add to only limited funds coming from an auto insurance policy. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance at the Orpheum Theater starting Tuesday, September 13 and before the concert at the door.

FMC patient Alin Ionescu, also a pianist, attends the Conservatory of Music in Bucharest and was invited to the U.S. by the Romanian Cultural Center in New York City for an October concert.

Ion Ionescu expands New Age music beyond the familiar to encompass a new dynamism and power. He was born 25 years ago in Pitesti, a small town near Bucharest, Romania. He started his musical career at age four and came to the U.S. at fifteen, with his most treasured possession—a satchel full of sheet music. Inonescu studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes College of Music, and developed his talent under the famed piano teacher and his mentor, Alice Papazian. He is a prize-winning veteran of more than one hundred concerts and competitions in Romania, Europe, and the U.S., including the Romanian National Classical Competition. Ionescu went on to become the Grand Prize-Winner of the Bertelsmann’s World of Expression Scholarship Program, sponsored by the German music distributor Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) for new and emerging composers throughout the world.

Beginning in 1999, Ionescu began performing his own works at Steinway Hall, CAMI Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Merkin Hall. His debut album, “Atmosphere,” was launched in 2000 at a command performance before His Excellency the Consul General of Romania at the Romanian Consulate General in New York City. Scheduled in 2001 for a performance before the president of Romania and the governor of the state of New York, George Pataki, the concert was cancelled due to the September 11. Ionescu’s volunteer work at Ground Zero inspired his composition “Why?” His second CD, “October Requiem,” was released on September 30, 2004 at Carnegie Hall. He contributed compositions to the music score for the independent film “Long Story Short” and recently served as musical director for the musical production, “Ragamuffins.”

A visit to Ionescu’s website at www.ionionescu.com provides an opportunity to listen to his original compositions and purchase CDs.