National University of Music Bucharest

The national system of decorations represents for each nation a landmark of the collective memory, which through its particularities comes to identify specific periods in the history of the Romanian state. Starting with Alexandru Ioan Cuza and continuing with Carol I, Ferdinand I, Carol II and ending with Mihai I, the sovereigns of Romania awarded orders and decorations, civil and military, to reward a lifetime of activity. It is interesting that between 1859 and 1947, each king tried to make his contribution and at the same time, through the national system of decorations, to become autonomous, to detach himself from his predecessor, to legitimize himself by introducing new types, modifying them on the previous ones. In this short study, the author proposes to show the fundamental stages of the reform imposed by Carol II of the national decoration system.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into educational management systems is widely acknowledged as a transformative approach that can enhance operational efficiency, decision-making processes, and personalized learning experiences. However, significant challenges and ethical considerations accompany these opportunities, underscoring the importance of understanding AI’s impact on educational institutions. This study explores the advantages and disadvantages of AI implementation in academic management, with a focus on identifying the opportunities, challenges, and ethical concerns associated with its use. A mixed-methods research design combined quantitative surveys and institutional performance data analysis with qualitative interviews and focus groups. The study involved 12 educational institutions with integrated AI tools, collecting insights from 150 survey respondents and 30 interviewees. The findings reveal that AI significantly improves operational efficiency, streamlines administrative tasks, and optimizes resource allocation. Additionally, AI positively impacts learning outcomes, leading to notable enhancements in student performance and engagement. However, challenges such as financial limitations, a scarcity of technical expertise, and resistance to change were identified, along with ethical concerns related to data privacy and algorithmic bias. In conclusion, while AI holds immense potential for revolutionizing educational management, successful implementation requires careful consideration of challenges and ethical implications. The study’s findings have significant implications for policymakers and academic leaders, indicating the need for strategic planning, investments in infrastructure, and the establishment of clear ethical guidelines to ensure that AI is deployed effectively and equitably.

This study focuses on one of the most spectacular aspects opera singer’s evolution – the change of vocal subrange, or even of vocal range. We identified the most frequent reasons prompting artists to such changes, the prerequisites, the most frequent types of specific evolutions, the advantages and risks inherent to such choices. Besides physiological particularities, opera singers have available certain technical parameters which, when carefully adapted and fine-tuned, may lead to spectacular results. We presented several case studies reflecting the performance of famous artists, whose vocal technique illustrates the solutions and adjustments mentioned above.

With a first recorded appearance dating around the 1950s, electronic music – the fruit of rigorous and tenacious labour by acoustician-researchers and composers who tried and succeeded in imposing a new sound-universe – channelled the evolution of the art of sounds as nothing before it. Prominent composers of the orientation – Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Edgar Varèse, Herbert Eimert, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Luigi Nono – had a determinant role in the way music expanded. The literature mentions as early as the beginning of the 20th century the existence of creators with a true calling for identifying original solutions to permanently transform music, breaking its barriers and thus allowing it to develop, expression-wise, in a variety of directions.

Neither of the stages of development of an institution such as the National University of Music Bucharest -at least with respect to the interwar period -can be understood without going back, even if only briefly, to the moment it was established, under the name of the Bucharest Conservatory of Music and Declamation -an event closely tied to the historical context and to the evolution of Romanian culture in the middle of the 19th century.In 1859, Romania as a country had just appeared on the map of the world, as the direct result of the union between two Romanian territories, Moldavia and Wallachia.Young Romania was at the confluence of two cultures, Oriental and Occidental, the former being a consequence of the Ottoman domination exerted for a long time in the South-East of Europe and the latter emerging as a viable alternative, desired and shared by all.The first half of the century, culminating in the revolutions of 1848, had set the stage for a gradual embracing of Western values, and the path that Romanian history took represented a continuous consolidation of the new direction of development of the whole society: after the union, Prince Carol, of German origin, 1 becomes the young country's leader, gaining, in war, its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, and turning it into a kingdom in 1881.Romania would thus start on a profound change, a lengthy process which would meet with such advantageous events as the annexation of Transylvania (the third province with a majority Romanian popula-