Music has always been part of my life, part of me. The short version of my story would be like this: born in 1988 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, I studied classical violin and piano as a child, until I met jazz at the age of 15. By that time I also got very interested into mathematics, but after four years of intensive study I realized that nothing compares with the satisfaction you get from music. Hence, I took up the musical journey and applied to Berklee College of Music, Boston, but the scholarship I received was not enough to take that great opportunity. Instead, I continued to study classical composition at the “Gheorghe Dima” Academy of Music. It was indeed a great experience, as I got to enrich my musical knowledge and develop my skills under the guidance of wonderful teachers such as Adrian Pop, Peter Szegho, Cornel Groza or Cornel Taranu.
At the same time, I continued to experience jazz music through my voice. In 2008 and 2009 I participated to vocal workshops with the voice expert Mary King at the Royal Academy of Music, London, UK and in 2010 I had the opportunity to attend a jazz course taught by Darius Brubeck for one semester. I got to play with many great people (first of all!) who happened to be great musicians such as Sorin Romanescu, Lucian Nagy, Andrei Tudor, Patrice Rushen, Will Kennedy, Darius Brubeck, Alfredo Paixao, Hans Vrooman, Borislav Petrov and many others.
In 2011 I completed my bachelor studies in Classical Composition and applied for the Nordic Master of Jazz program in Arhus. Main instrument: voice. I had a great time and experience studying in RAMA and in KMH, Stockholm for one semester each, meeting the Scandinavian jazz scene. At the moment, I reside in Helsinki, continuing the NOMAZZ journey at Sibelius Academy.
I participated to several jazz festivals and competitions around Europe, but the most important experience that I had was in July 2012, in Switzerland, where I was awarded the 2nd Prize and the Public Prize by a jury presided by the great Quincy Jones, at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
In 2012 I started my own record label (EM Records), through which I produced my most recent jazz album, Romanian Christmas Stories, recorded in October 2011 with my jazz quintet.
