On September 10, 2025, at the Art Gallery in Comrat, the presentation of the Collection of Piano and Chamber Music Works by Composers from Gagauzia took place. The edition was published under the auspices of the M.V. Marunievich Research Center of Gagauzia, with the support of Comrat State University, funded by the Gagauz Language Rescue Fund allocated for the year 2025. The idea of publishing this collection arose due to the demand and the aspiration of the youth of the region towards Gagauz national culture, as well as the necessity of including piano and chamber music works in educational programs. Since Gagauz musical culture represents an authentic musical language that is little known to the general public, the authors were deeply inspired by the idea of creating a collection of works by composers based on Gagauz musical folklore, with the aim of preserving cultural heritage and promoting it.

The presented collection consists of two parts.

The first part includes piano miniatures, pieces, and large-scale works, in particular, variations on themes of Gagauz folk songs, represented by composers such as Dmitri Gagauz, Mihail Colsa, Ivan Celak, and young, promising composers Mihail Rotar and Anetta Biuc. The second part includes duets and trios for musical instruments such as violin, cello, and flute accompanied by piano, created by the same outstanding representatives of Gagauz musical culture.

The works presented in the collection vary in their level of complexity and can be used in the educational process in music schools, colleges, and higher educational institutions.

Among their authors/arrangers are both well-known and emerging composers from Gagauzia, such as Dmitry Gagauz, Mihail Colsa, Mihail Rotar, Ivan Celak, Tatiana Șciogoleva, and Anna Yanak.

Now this music has become an integral part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the world and of future generations of Gagauz.

Project Leaders:

• Natalia Barbaneagra – Honored Teacher of Gagauzia, piano teacher of the highest category, accompanist of the Department of Culture and Arts of the Faculty of National Culture of Comrat State University;
• Vitaliy Boikov – Acting Scientific Secretary of the M.V. Marunievich Research Center of Gagauzia.

Compilers:

• Natalia Barbaneagra, Vitaliy Boikov, Tatiana Mutcoglo – Honored Worker of Culture of Gagauzia, teacher at the Department of Culture and Arts of the Faculty of National Culture of Comrat State University.

Executive Editor:

• Natalia Stanțoi – Honored Worker of Culture of Gagauzia, lecturer at the Department of Culture and Arts of the Faculty of National Culture, Maestru în Artă RM.

Music Editor:

• Olga Terzi – Assistant at the Department of Culture and Arts of the Faculty of National Culture of Comrat State University, Master of Pedagogical Sciences.

Editor of the Russian text:

• Marianna Bass – Researcher at the M.V. Marunievich Research Center of Gagauzia.

Translation and editing of the Gagauz text:

• Tatiana Chireacova – Acting Head of the Terminology Department of the M.V. Marunievich Research Center of Gagauzia.

Reviewers:

• Tatiana Șciogoleva – Head of the Department of Culture and Arts of Comrat State University, Head of the Gagauz Folk Ensemble “Düz Ava”, Maestru în Artă RM;
• Ivan Celak – Associate Professor, Doctor, composer, accordionist, teacher, academician, writer. // University of Music and Fine Arts of Ankara, Faculty of Musical Sciences and Technologies, Department of Music Theory, Republic of Turkey;
• Snejana Pâslar – Composer, Doctor of Arts and Cultural Studies, teacher of the highest category at the Exemplary Center of Musical Education “Șt. Neaga”, Associate Professor at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts, member of the Board of the Union of Composers and Musicologists of the Republic of Moldova, Maestru în Artă RM.

The presentation of the collection became a true cultural event of the autonomy and the region, gathering representatives of the music and education sphere from Gagauzia, the south, and the center of the country.

The forum featured the participation of:

• Comrat State University;
• Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts (Chișinău);
• Centru de Excelență în Educație Artistică "Ștefan Neaga" (Chișinău);
• Mateevici Pedagogical College;
• Pridnestrovian State Institute of Arts named after A. Rubinstein;
• Branch of RU “Angel Kanchev” (Taraclia);
• Exemplary Center of Artistic Education “Ștefan Neaga” (Tvardita branch);
• PU College named after Mihail Ciachir;
• PU Children’s Music Schools of ATU Gagauzia: Vulcănești, Ceadîr-Lunga, Comrat, Chishmichioi.

The presented collection became the first major edition aimed at preserving and promoting such an element of the intangible cultural heritage of the Gagauz people as musical folklore, presented for the first time in the academic and chamber music of composers from Gagauzia.

The participants of the presentation unanimously noted the revolutionary importance of such works and publications for the preservation of the intangible cultural heritage not only of the Gagauz but also of the Moldovan people, as well as other nations living in the Republic of Moldova.