I was born in 1979 - full dictatorial time of Ceaușescu -
in Bacău, a small town in the heart of Moldovia. Communists set up there after the Soviet model a Philharmonic and a
Music School, both in new buildings with Russian pianos. My first
piano teacher, Tatiana Pocinoc had just graduated the Conservatory.
I often listened to her as she was practicing after classes... Then I
met Beethoven, Enescu and especially Chopin ... Thanks to her I had
the privilege of having direct contact with the art of sounds and
being exempt from the dull technical rules ...
At 9 I played "Für
Elise" by Ludwig van Beethoven,
at 10 "March of the Dwarves" by Edvard Grieg, and at 11 the
Nocturne
in C # minor by Fréderic Chopin. I
was performing
these pieces
with much
joy in exams...
After
seven years of piano, I won my first prize - First Prize at the
"Primăvara
Artelor" / "Spring of Arts" Competition. The prize convinced my
parents to let me continue this way.
At
that edition, I met the president of the jury, Mircea Dan Răducanu,
who had an overwhelming influence on me over the next four years.
His
influence manifested itself subtly through the recognition of my
freedom and musical initiative.
Enthusiastic
about this style of work, at 17 I performed the Sonata in B Minor by
Franz Liszt, inspired in the same time by Li Minquiang's
interpretation on an old vinyl disc.
After a failed competition in which I played this sonata, I decided to apply for the National Music University in Bucharest. Through admission I passed, but the following years I remember being coloured by theater, philosophical readings, jazz concerts and prose writing.
After the license exam, I was finally free to dedicate myself to composition. I wrote relatively much at that time, being encouraged by Johnny Răducanu to whom I played every week something. Dramas and film scenarios followed. "Amenda" was inspired by my trip from Belgium to Romania in a clandestine minibus with the police on our tracks ... Writing word-of-mouth dialogues resulted in a comedy.There followed a recital by Johnny Răducanu one year after his disappearance, the whole of Debussy's Preludes, concerts with the orchestra, "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus" by Olivier Messiaen, projects that have existed thanks to few extraordinary people.
My compositions are influenced by poetry (William Blake or Georg Trakl) and free jazz.
2022, next by French cellist Thibault Solorzano I founded Duotonina, band which approaches music by different angles, from the classical till jazz or contemporary - duotonina.com.