Awards/Competitions
3rd Prize, 2018 “Ohrid Pearls” International Competition, Ohrid; 1st Prize, 2017 Romanian National Music Competition, Timisoara; 1st Prize 2016 International Violin Competition “Josef Brandeisz”, Timisoara
Appearances
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, substitute, Milan, 2026; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala Academy, concertmaster, Milan, 2025–26; Orquesta Nacional de España, substitute, Madrid, 2024–25; Neue Philharmonie Orchester Berlin, November 2024–25; Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, substitute, 2024; Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro Radio Televisión Española, substitute, Madrid, 2023–24
What made you decide to become a musician? Was there a particular performance or person that influenced your decision?
My mother is an opera singer and a great musician herself, so I’ve been surrounded by all kinds of music but especially theatre music (from opera and ballet to musical and operetta) ever since I breathed life. Even today that particular genre gives me goosebumps, and I feel my legs eager to jump and start waltzing around. Though at first it seemed only natural that I would follow this path as well, as years go by I keep discovering reasons to continue. Every day I discover the passion in myself and the magic of music. It has given me a voice when I didn’t know how to express myself through words and that’s why I will continue to serve this art.
Tell us about a time you almost gave up but didn’t.
As musicians I think we identify with our art so profoundly that sometimes we confuse ourselves with it, and when we receive a rejection from a program or an orchestra or a teacher, we tend to take the rejection of our craft as a rejection of self. By doing that, there was a critical moment I thought I lost myself together with my ability to express anything through music. But, as Tolstoy says in his short story “What Men Live By”, “it seems to men that they live by care for themselves, in truth it is love alone by which they live.” I was lucky enough to have people around me that offered me their words of appreciation and encouragement, big and small gestures of support, but most importantly by believing in me even when I was struggling to do so myself.
Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
Composer Israel Estelche, one of the people I was talking about above but not only! Apart from being my tutor and professor, I consider him to be part of my extended family, as I carry him in the pocket of my heart, right there next to my family, wherever I go. Not only were his classes were wonderful to attend, but also he inspired me to get out of my comfort zone, to get rid of the frames of my thinking, to listen especially to the music I would not think I would like, to try the crazy ideas and have the audacity to demand more from life. His warm approach during classes, his humble attitude, rich knowledge, and love for poetry, together with the patience he showed me during challenging times and him taking the time to respond to my million-and-one questions, made him in my eyes the role model of a mentor. If I ever get to be a teacher, that’s how I would like my students to perceive me too.
Do you have a favorite non-classical musician or band?
Choosing just one musician or band is like choosing a favorite book. It depends on the genre, on the period of life, and on the mood I’m in, but I think I will choose one that seems to be a constant in the past decade. I used to listen to Pink Floyd quite a lot and I still go back to them every now and then, enjoying the music just as much.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
I would love to be a writer. I always found books fascinating and I would love to create worlds that would immerse other people the same way the worlds of extraordinary authors sucked me in ever since I was little. What is an author if not a designer of an universe?
What do you wish you knew starting out that you know now?
I wish I knew that learning to be a musician has more to do with learning to be a human than with learning the technical part of it. I think I spent a lot of years imprisoned in my own space, thinking that if I developed my skills and improved my craft sufficiently, that would automatically make me a good musician. Music has so much to do with being a human that you need to learn how to live, how to appreciate life, how to appreciate other people’s art, nurture your curiosity, and get inspired by nature’s art and also by other humans and their art in order to be a true artist. Luckily, I have in my life truly inspiring people that open my horizons and hold me while I keep doing my best to outgrow the old versions of myself.