The process of political emancipation of Bessarabian Romanians in 1917-1918, in the background of democratic evolutions in Rusia after the February 1917 Revolution was supported by a movement for national renewal and reclaiming of the ethnic identity. The cultural renewal in the Bessarabian space amplified when Bessarabia (the Moldavian Democratic Republic), on January 24, 1918, proclaimed its political independence by voting a new declaration of the Sfatul Ţării, an event that opened new perspectives for national and cultural expressions. In the new political context, the national cultural organizations existing in the space between Prut and Dniester, even if they were modest, were supported by Romanian cultural institutions. Performances in Chisinau by the National Theatre in Iasi, during January-February 1918, and the concerts in front of the  Bessarabian audience of the Iasi Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by maestro George Enescu, in March 1918, when Sfatul Ţării was voting the Declaration of Union between Bessarabia and Romania, were a first occasion for familiarizing the Bessarabian public with the authentic Romanian cultural values, from which it was alienated during the century of Tsarist rule.