An Evening of Romanian Music, Poetry and Theater

Romanians of Washington, DC has the pleasure of inviting you to a special evening of Romanian Music, Poetry and Theater with Nelu Lazăr & the Sounds of Romania and with Domnica Rădulescu and her guests. The event will take place on Sunday, October 20 from 5 until 7 pm at the Busboys and Poets located at 2021 14 Street, NW, Washington, DC.

Nelu Lazăr is a Romanian-American singer-songwriter, producer, co-founder of acoustic & rock bands, prosodic book writer – time permitting. Nelu’s vocal interpretation is mesmerizing and his audience is always enthralled when he plays acoustic guitar – and some cobza – versions of traditional fiddling, alternative folk, folk-rock, grunge, punk, and rock genres, including his original songs from his albums. He started with music in the ‘90s and since then has performed on tours in Romania, Moldova, and the United States. Nelu has quite a few active music projects including a version of a well-known rock opera from the ‘70s that he translated in Romanian and has licensed to produce as a show in Chicago. He is the author of the book and rock opera The Seasons’ Journey soon to be published as a music album, as well as the author of the poems book and the folk opera Din vremuri de departe, din vremuri de demult published in 2023.

Sounds of Romania is a music group formed in 2009 when a few Romanians from Lafayette, Indiana were invited to sing at the local Global Fest organized on the Purdue University campus by the International Center of West Lafayette. Nelu Lazăr gathered together Romanian friends and artists who revived, keep and celebrated Romanian heritage of music, poetry and traditions. This group also has another music project, with songs in English, named “Nelu Lazar & the Black Sea Vallachs”. The group includes Alin Mesaros on the acoustic guitar, Marian Fediuc on bass guitar, Gena Lazăr on vocals, and Nelu Lazar as the lead guitar and main vocals.

Domnica Rădulescu is a Romanian-American transnational fiction writer, playwright, scholar, educator. She arrived in the United States in the early eighties as a political refugee and settled in Chicago where she obtained a Ph.D. in Romance Languages from the University of Chicago. She is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, Train to Trieste, Black Sea Twilight, and Country of Red Azaleas. Two of her plays, The Town with Very Nice People and Exile Is My Home, were finalists for the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award (2012 & 2013). The production of Exile Is My Home at the Theater for the New City in New York was nominated for the New York Innovative Theater Award and won the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast Award from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. She also published 15 non-fiction books, edited and co-edited collections on topics ranging from the tragic heroine in western literature to feminist comedy, to studies of exile literature and theater. Her fourth novel My Father’s Orchards is forthcoming in 2025 from Histria Books. Dream in a Suitcase. The Story of an Immigrant Life that appeared in 2022 is her first memoir. Domnica received the 2011 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. She is twice a Fulbright scholar and the founding director of the National Symposium of Theater in Academe.

Limited seating. Tickets are $30 per person and are available online at romanianevening.eventbrite.com. Tickets are nonrefundable. Door open at 4:45 pm. Seating is on first come first served basis. Parking available on the streets or at the nearby Franklin D Center Garage located at 2000 14th Street, NW. The venue is only a short walk from the U Street Metro station on the Green line.