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Vlad Stanculeasa 

Born on the 4th of September 1984 in Craiova, Romania, Vlad Stanculeasa made his first steps in music under the guidance of his sister, the pianist Ivona Hristescu. The beginning of his violin studies were more than promising. He began practising systematically the violin at the Art Highschool in Craiova under the guidance of Stefan Dumitru. The staff of the Highschool were as happy as they could be to soon discover that Vlad was one of the best and most prolific of their students who won prizes for the school at national competitions every year.  It became more and more obvious that such talent needed  a special care and attention so that everybody agreed, teachers and parents, that he should continue his music studies in Bucharest, the capital, with its artistic and effervescent atmosphere.

In 1997 he went to Bucharest to continue his studies at the well-known  "George Enescu  Music High-school” where his teachers were Mihaela Tomescu, Cezar Marin and Ladislau Csendes.

He earned his teachers' and colleagues' appreciation and trust and became the leader and soloist of the orchestra of the high-school and made tours to England and France. His numerous solo performances on different scenes of the country were completed by concerts with young musicians of his generation with whom he created the “Incantare String Quartet” in 2001 and won the second prize at the Mozart Competition in Cluj.

By now it was more than obvious that music had become the greatest passion of the young violinist who's musical record includes more than 25 prizes won at national and international competitions such as Second Prize at the "Renata Molinari International Competition” in Gstaad, Switzerland and the Second Prize at the "Valsesia Musica International Competition” in Italy.

In 2007 he showed his talent and value at the "George Enescu International Competition” where he won the Third Prize and the Prize for the best performance of Enescu's “Impressions d'Enfence”. “Everybody is enjoying the performance of the violinist Vlad Stanculeasa and the fact that his talent, vibration and emotion with which he played Enescu's pages were those of a first class violinist."

He attended masterclasses held by well-known violinists and professors  such as Ana Chumachenco, Thomas Brandis, Valery Gradov, Anatoly Resnikovsky, Eugen Sârbu, Petru Munteanu, Saschko Gavrilov, Ştefan Gheorghiu, Nobuko Imai, Franz Helmerson, Bogdan Zvorişteanu, Hanna Kotkova, Philippe Graffin,  Andrew Manze and Hermann Krebbers.

In  2007 he graduated from the well-known "Yehudi Menuhin International Music Academy” in Switzerland, where he studied with the renowned teachers Alberto Lysy and Liviu Prunaru, and the courses for the Masters Diplome at the Conservatoire de Lausanne in the class of Pierre Amoyal.

Being a soloist of  "Camerata Lysy", he performed on famous scenes such as Victoria Hall in Geneva, Casino in Bern etc., and he was invited to perform in known festivals such as "Menuhin Festival”   (Gstaad), “Festival  do Estoril" and “Musica Oceanica (Portugal), “Carl Orff” Alberobello (Italy), ”Speyer Muzikfestival” (Germany), ”Festival  George Enescu” (Romania) etc.

He has recorded for the Romanian Radio Society and his passion for chamber music led him to perform on stage side by side with famous musicians such as Michael Flaksman, Lory Walfish, Ettore Causa, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Jeremy Menuhin, Eric Chumachenco, Friedemann Eichhorn, Jelena Ocic or Jose Gallardo. In 2007, together with his colleagues from the "Menuhin Academy", he performed the “Octuor” by George Enescu in the “George Enescu Festival” in Bucharest, a performance that was acclaimed with enthusiasm by the audience and the critics.

His debut as a soloist on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum performing Sergei Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto (January 2009) electrified the audience and animated the specialized critics who wrote: "A great violinist was born under our very eyes", considering him as "the rising of a new star of the Romanian violin school". His performance was considered to be a "brilliant debut". The "Cultural Observer Magazine” wrote that his "violin refinement and understanding of Enescu's famous piece of art "Lautarul" (The Fiddler),  which he performed at the audience's demand, proved his talent for understanding the rhapsodic-longing characteristic of the piece, his extraordinary gift in valuation of the tuneful refinement, his understanding of the ornaments which this kind of music implies."

Since 2009 he is Concert Master in Kammerorkester Basel and recently has been appointed as a Concert Master of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

Vlad Stanculeasa plays a Sanctus Serafin violin, from 1739 which belonged to George Enescu. The great romanian artist gave it shortly before his death to his most brilliant student, the violinist Lord Yehudi Menuhin, who kept it until his death.