This story about our talented RMUSP scholarship beneficiary Raisa Mihai was published by the Romanian newspaper adevarul.ro
Sacrifices and compromises are necessary when it comes to achieving performance, but they seem to double when racial discrimination occurs. However, there are people who have successfully faced them and received loud applauses on open stage.
Raisa Mihai (24), a scholarship holder at the Roma Education Fund, debuted in cinema at the age of nine. Over the years, she was cast in various film and theatre roles. Currently, she is a first-year master student at the National University of Music in Bucharest, classical guitar section, and she is an actress at the Independent Theatre ‘Giuvlipen’.
“The road to performance is difficult, very difficult, because it requires work, work and more work. Let me tell you about a day in my childhood. I went to school from morning to 2 pm. Then, until 7 pm, the Children’s Palace became my second home, where I followed classes of theatre, ballet and choir. From the age of 5 to 12, this was my childhood timetable. This meant less time for dolls, park, and play, less of all the natural activities of childhood. The road to performance is full of sacrifices,” the young girl told ‘Weekend Adevarul’.
Without passion, there is no success
Raisa says that music has become an important part of her existence because she believes that it was meant for her. She inherited the talent from her grandmother, who had a divine voice and an extraordinary musical ear. ‘It has certainly been for me a genetic source, but not only, as I am convinced that for anyone who makes art in this world, not only genetics, but also divine grace is needed. The passion for music came with the first knowledge, and the first hours of study.
Over the years, after acquiring experience and skill, passion implicitly comes – this is the desire to know and do more and more. It naturally comes from within you, and it helps you to easily achieve extraordinary results, based on that passion. Without passion, there is no success. It’s as if someone had decided for me and that someone could only be what I am meant to be. This purpose is not up to us as human beings, but it comes from a place where the human being has no access,’ Raisa says.
Raisa has been playing guitar since childhood
On this difficult road, her family has always been by her side. It was her parents who directed her steps towards beauty, towards music. They were close to her, and they were especially careful that she would not suffer or face any form of strong discrimination. “Until the age of 12, I studied at a private international school, and after that, I attended the National Music College “George Enescu”, which was an equally harmonious environment, because there, both Romanian and Roma grew together since kindergarten.
“I felt discrimination when I went out into the world, sometimes even positive discrimination. However, whenever I felt any form of segregation, it stimulated me to become even better at what I was doing to prove that I could overcome my frustrations. I did everything to show others that I am actually the same as them, and that skin colour is not the way to judge people,” explains Raisa Mihai. She was part of the famous Allegretto group
‘Art has no colour’
The young woman, who had a great education and grew up in a cultural environment, says that she realized that discrimination does not exist in the educated world. “Having performed on international stages, I realized that in art this stereotype of discrimination does not exist. In art you are just an artist and that is all. Art has no colour, art has grace, and where there is grace, there is no malice,” explains Raisa Mihai. Sometimes, however, she has encountered difficulties with people’s mentality. She managed with diplomacy and with great confidence in her own strength to overcome these less pleasant moments.
Raisa, proud of her ethnicity
“Mentalities are prejudices; prejudices are preconceived ideas on subjects you do not know. In this sense, this depends more on the one who creates this state of prejudice, you as the subject of his prejudice must change it – hence the difficulty. I have met people over the years with whom I have had to make a considerable effort to change their mind about who I am. After overcoming these mentalities, I started to inspire them and this inspiration is the solution to radically change their perception of us,” says Raisa.
The young musician speaks about her Roma ethnicity and says that no one should ever be ashamed of who they are: “You should not be ashamed or afraid of your origin, I feel happy that I am part of the Roma ethnicity.”
Applause for the classical guitar
Attracted ever since childhood to the artistic world, ambitious and always eager to learn as much as possible, Raisa Mihai has been on stage since the age of six. She was a Member of the Allegretto choir, with whom she participated in over 20 international tournaments and competitions in various corners of the world.
As for the classical guitar, Raisa has won numerous international and national awards at several classical guitar festivals – Harmonia Cordis International Guitar Festival, Sinaia International Guitar Festival, Terra Siculorum International Guitar Festival, Skopje International Guitar Festival, Eduard Pamfil Guitar competition, Pleven International Guitar Festival.
In 2018, she formed a duo with Ana Maria Bibescu, ARTissimo Guitar Duo, which quickly became a known name in the world of classical music. The two guitarists have won four first prizes in international competitions dedicated to classical guitar since the first three months of their career. Also, in 2021, ARTissimo Guitar Duo had a very successful online concert, ‘A Guitar Bravado for the coming of spring’ at the event ‘Enescu Soirees Online’, in collaboration with the Romanian Cultural Institute New York, Radio Romania Musical and Isvor Cultural Association. ‘One of the most remarkable moments was when I and my partner (from the band ARTissimo Guitar Duo) were playing ‘Intermezzo’ and our video was voted the video of the week by the most important classical guitar magazine in the world, ‘Classical Guitar Magazine,’ on the occasion of celebrating the composer Manuel Maria Ponce’.
Music, Raisa’s greatest soul satisfaction
In 2019, Raisa, together with the pianist Sinziana Mircea, was part of the international tour “Imagine Chopin”, where she received loud applause. They performed at Steinway Hall in London, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Radio Hall, Târgu-Mureş Philharmonic and Arcus Culture Centre. This tour was an impressive success, which led to its choice and full broadcast by BBC Radio 3 & European Broadcasting Union in both 2020 and 2021.
In addition to music, Raisa debuted in cinema at the age of nine, first casting in the film “Ho Ho Ho” (directed by: Jesús del Cerro). Continuing with the German production “Nelly’s adventure” (directed by: Dominik Wessely, 2016) and ‘A Bras Ouverts’ a French production from 2017, directed by Philippe de Chauveron. “I also played with my father, Sorin Mihai, in the short film “Written/Unwritten”, directed by Adrian Silisteanu, and it was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. The theatrical debut came a little later, in the theatre company ‘Giuvlipen’, where I played the role of Sidonia in «Gadjo Dildo». In 2019, I had the opportunity to see and feel what it means to really work on a play with the show “American Gypsy”.
Having performed on international stages, I realized that in art this stereotype of discrimination does not exist. In art you are just an artist and that is all. Art has no colour, art has grace, and where there is grace, there is no malice -Raisa Mihai, artist.
