Maestro Gabriel Croitoru, a world renowned Violinist from Romania. He was the first prizewinner of both Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Lublin, Poland-1979 and the Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition in Spain-1991 as well as the best interpretation of works by Sarasate.
He is also the top prizewinner in other International Violin Competitions including Tibor Varga (second prize,-first prize not awarded), N.Paganini, Fritz Kreisler and has been hailed as “an exceptional violinist with impeccable technique” in the French papers after winning second prize (first prize-not awarded) in Zino Francescatti International Violin Competition in 1987.
Mr. Croitoru recorded on CD in 1988 with the Nice Philharmonic (France), under the baton of Claude Bardon, Paganini’s concerto no.1 and Tschaikovski’s violin concerto.
Named by the British magazine The Strad as “an incurable virtuoso with a fabulous soul and technique”, the violinist Remus Azoiţei graduated from the Bucharest Conservatory in Daniel Podlovski’s class, after which he obtained a scholarship to the famous Juilliard School in New York where he studied with Itzhak Perlman for the title of Master of Music. Over time, he also benefited from the guidance of the violinist Bujor Prelipcean.
Remus Azoiţei has performed in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Salle Cortot Paris, Konzerthaus Berlin, St-Martin-in-the-Fields and Wigmore Hall in London, Teatro La Fenice Venice, Auditorio Nacional Madrid or Konzerthaus Vienna, also appearing in music festivals in Tokyo, Cambridge, London, Berlin, Heidelberg and Santander, among others. He has collaborated with renowned artists including Lawrence Foster, David Geringas, Gérard Caussé, Michael Sanderling and Adrian Brendel, as well as being a soloist of prestigious ensembles such as the Berlin Kammer Orchestra, Orchester Nationale de Belgique, Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of London and Orchestre Philarmonique de Radio France. In 2005, he performed Bach’s Double Concerto with violinist Nigel Kennedy at the George Enescu International Festival, hosted by 19 radio and television stations in Europe, including the BBC, Arte and Mezzo. On his debut at the famous Wigmore Hall in London, Sunday Express reported that he “sang an unforgettable concert in front of a crowded Wigmore Hall and lifted the audience to their feet. He is an exceptional musician.”
Doctoral professor at the Academy of Music „Ghe. Dima” from Cluj-Napoca, Nicusor Sliaghi has been teaching the violin since 1991, when he was an associate professor within the study unit. Since 1981, Nicusor Silaghi has been a member of the Transylvanian Quartet, the Sibiu State Philharmonic and the Cluj-Napoca State Philharmonic.
Throughout his career, Nicusor Silaghi has given over 1500 recitals with the Transylvanian Quartet in the country and abroad, numerous recitals and solo concerts, with over 20 first auditions and first absolute auditions, radio-TV recordings, CDs, etc. He was also a concertmaster of the “Romania Festival” and “Internazionale d’Italia” orchestras.
The violinist Șerban Mereuță was born in Ploiești, in 1968. He studied at the George Enescu High School in Bucharest, then at the Iași Conservatory, in the class of the renowned pedagogue Bujor Prelipcean PhD.
During his university studies in Iași, he responded with passion to the impulse coming from the Voces masters, becoming a founding member of the Ad libitum String Quartet, together with Adrian Berescu, Bogdan Bișoc and Filip Papa. From that moment – the year 1988 – the artistic destiny of Șerban Mereuță was integrated with that of the Ad libitum Quartet.
Together with the Ad Libitum Quartet, he has performed in famous concert halls: “Cortot” and Musée D’Orsay (Paris), “Diligentia” (Hague), “De Doelen” (Rotterdam), “Conzerthaus” (Berlin), Concertgebouw ”(Amsterdam),“ Kaisersaal ”(Frankfurt),“ Beethoven Haus ”(Bonn), Temppeliaukion (Helsinki), Romanian Athenaeum (Bucharest),“ Moldova ”Philharmonic (Iaşi), and on the stages of important festivals, such as those in Monte Carlo, Gstadt, Kerkrade, Delft, Bordeaux, Luberon, but also at the George Enescu International Festival – Bucharest.
Born in 1957 in Romania, Vasile Jucan studied music and violoncello at the Sigismund Toduță High School of Music in Cluj-Napoca and at the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music from the same town.
Since 1987 he is a founding member of the Transylvanian Quartet, with which, in a relatively short period of time, he has won numerous national awards and distinctions, including the first prize at the National Competition for String Quartets Gheorghe Dima, the Romanian Critics Association Award and the award of the Union of Romanian Composers. Only two years after its formation, due to the exceptional professional level, the Transylvanian Quartet acquired the status of a state quartet within the Transylvania Philharmonic in Cluj-Napoca.