After a highly acclaimed performance in 2019, ZMEI3 returns to Washington, D.C., to an iconic venue, the Kennedy Center. ZMEI3 is a Romanian group formed in Berlin, Germany, which has been at the forefront of a radical renewal of Romanian music of the past decade. The name alludes to the supernatural creatures of Romanian folklore, the zmei, a species of dragons with destructive powers that always make good shine brighter. ZMEI3’s blend of indie-pop, blues and soul, infused with jazz, avant-garde, and psychedelic influences, creates a distinctive sound, at once refined and exuberant, which came to be known as “Rough Romanian Soul”.
With an irresistible playlist, made of original material based on old Romanian songs, and other music genres, the concert offers a passionate performance, melancholic, spiritual and soulful.

“A Very Romanian Affair” will be performed one night only, on Tuesday, June 13th, 2023, at 7:00 PM, at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C., courtesy of the Embassy of Romania to the United States of America and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, with the generous support of our sponsors: Banca Transilvania, BCR, CEC Bank, Dedeman, Kaufland, EximBank, One, Hidroelectrica, Lidl, EMag. The event is part of an ample cultural program dedicated to the Romania-United States Strategic Partnership.

ZMEI3 is: Mihai Victor Iliescu - concept, guitars, vocals, lyrics; Oli Bott - vibraphone, keyboards, composition; Corina Sîrghi - lead vocals; Ilko Gradev – accordion; Andrei Petrache – keyboards; Michael Acker – bass; Ati de Chile – drums.

Tuesday, June 13th, 2023, 7:00 PM
Where: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Terrace Theater
Free event. Tickets required.
Tickets are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, by phone (202) 467-4600 and on the kennedy-center.org website. For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, please call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540. Please note that the free tickets are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office and online: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/jazz/2022-2023/zmel3/ .

Throughout the years, ZMEI3 has performed at WOMAD, BBC Radio 3 & BBC World, The Troubadour in London, Electric Castle Festival in Romania, Hamburg Philharmonic, Gasteig in Munich, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Stanser Musiktage, Porgy & Bess in Vienna, and at the Bucharest Jazz Festival.

"Rough Romanian Soul is a fierce, authentic, artfully crafted musical landscape." WORLD MUSIC CENTRAL
"ZMEI3 are psychedelic and melancholic, spiritual and soulful, jazzy and experimental, sometimes even rock, always very Romanian and above all - brave." WEST DEUTSCHLAND RADIO
"A passionate performance, loud and euphoric, virtuoso and touching." DER TAGESSPIEGEL

This event is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by the Kennedy Center.