Stepan Project | th

Ilie Stepan was born on November 24, 1953, in Caransebes, Romania and is one of the great legends of Romanian rock. Not only a fine composer, guitarist, instrumentalist, arranger and author - he is also a radio and television producer - and producer of film and theatre music, as well as other artistic projects. Founder of the group Pro Musica, whose first performance was in January 1973 - and the author of one of the most impressive songs of the Romanian Revolution "Timisoara" - he was also an active member of the group Progress TM from 1975 to 1977, playing bass and acoustic guitar.

He reorganized Pro Musica in 1978, orientating it towards progressive rock influences and Balkan national ethos.

STEPAN PROJECT:

Ilie Stepan established the group 'Stepan Project' to work on the musical project "Trilogia Sensului Vieţii" (A trilogy called "The Meaning of Life"), which included "Sensul Vieţii" (Meaning of Life), the CD for which appeared in 1996, "Undeva în Europa." (Somewhere in Europe .), which appeared as a double CD in 2001, and "Lumina" (Light), a lavish triple CD and DVD box set, which was finally issued in 2012.

The launch performance of the first part of the trilogy, "Sensul Vieţii", released in 1996, was attended by 24 invited musicians from folk, pop-rock, jazz-rock, classical and folklore, alongside musicians from Ilie's former band Pro Musica. In addition to the traditional rock instruments, the group used a variety of other more esoteric instruments. "Sensul Vieţii" was nominated in all Romanian rankings for 1996, and was named as the disc of the year by Panoramic TV.

The double CD "Undeva în Europa." continued the concept behind "Sensul Vieţii". Launched on the Internet in the first second of 2001, the music video for the track "Lumina" signified the first signs of the new millennium on a planetary scale, and the album itself contains 22 tracks in total, covering 130 minutes of music. Along with Ilie Stepan himself, over 30 musicians are used. The album took three and a half years to make and a launch 'megaconcert' was held on 31 December 2006, occasioned by the accession of Romania to the European Union, and performed in front of over 100,000 spectators.

"Lumina" itself contains three CDs and a booklet of 80 pages, and took 11 years to complete, finally closing the trilogy. It is indeed a great epic fusion, with 33 tracks on three CDs, 3 bonus tracks, 7 slideshows, 3 videos, 2 concert recordings on landscape DVD, with 5.1 Surround Sound (the first Romanian DVD to feature this). In total it contains five and a half hours music. Dozens of instruments were used once again, from the archaic (leaf, bagpipes, dulcimer, cobza, violin trumpet, chop, taragot, pipe) to the more typical modern rock instruments. Not only musicians, but painters, photographers, graphic artists, filmmakers and writers were employed. This final part of the project also included Bards, religious choirs, opera singers, musicians from the world of folk, pop, rock and jazz, as well as specialists in electronic and computer music. The official release concert took place in Timisoara in the Great Hall of the Council of CJTimis, on 20th November 2012, under the title "Extraordinary Concert Ilie Stepan, Dietrich Krauser, Horia Crisovan and their guests." At one point of the concert members of Ilie's former group group Pro Musica were on stage together for the first time in 18 years.


http://www.stepanproject.com/

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Ilie Stepan este un simbol al folkului si rockului romanesc. A aparut de la inceputuri, o data cu explozia ritmurilor beat din anii 60; a fondat "Pro Musica" - un grup de marca al anilor 70-"80; a compus "Timisoara" - cel mai frumos imn al Revolutiei din decembrie. Implicat in viata cetatii, artist cu o energie debordanta si o aura speciala, Stepan este unul din putinii pionieri ai rockului care continua sa caute drumuri noi, sa compuna cu aceeasi pasiune, rafinament si forta, cu care a pornit acum mai bine de trei decenii. Pentru primele generatii de rockeri romani, Ilie Stepan este un nume cu aceeasi rezonanta ca oricare dintre muzicienii importanti ai scenei. Muzica simfonica a secolului XIX a devenit muzica rock a secolului XX!, conchidea Stepan urmarit cu siguranta, intr-ascuns, de vechile sale proiecte legate de muzica programatica, de rockul ca poem. Pana in septembrie 1996, data lansarii CD-ului Sensul vietii (The Sense of Life), el avea sa construiasca, cu o minutiozitate de bijutier, un intreg concept foto-lirico-melodic, ridicat la rangul de capodopera rock a ultimului deceniu al mileniului al II-lea. Iata si demersul...initiatic, in talmacirea, pe scurt, a lui Stepan: E povestea vietii unui om, un simplu credincios, a traseului sau prin aceasta viata, de la nastere si pana la moarte, punctul nodal in care de fapt se deschide un alt ciclu, cu viziunea (propriei meditatii asupra puterii divine) patimilor lui Hristos. O detasare cosmogonica a omului in Univers, pe care cu totii o avem in subconstient. Ca neinitiati, n-o putem parcurge si nici explica, dar oricum ramanem tributari unor miscari de stele. E melos în sens larg, un melanj de arhaic-folcloric (mergand inapoi, in timp, pana la sugerarea unor incantatii dacice), simfonic, usor, pop, jazz-rock. Dupa 5 ani de la aparitia primului material discografic, Sensul Vietii (The Sense Of Life), in 1996, ce avea sa faca parte dintr-o trilogie construita cu meticulozitate si dragoste, apare dublul CD "Undeva in Europa". Ilie Stepan spune ca "folclorul este suma trairilor unui neam", declaratii ce dau repere, coordonate pentru continutul acestui album. Regasim folk, rock , jazz, versuri bisericesti, versuri eminesciene. Albumul reprezinta un hibrid de genuri muzicale, de trairi, de idei filosofice. .