Ilinca Dumitrescu, piano

The pianist Ilinca Dumitrescu is an important and well-known performer both within Romania and internationally. She was born in Bucharest and is a member of a highly artistic family (her father is the composer Ion Dumitrescu, professor emeritus and corresponding member of the Institut de France–Académie des Beaux-Arts, and her mother is the poet Mariana Dumitrescu). Ms. Dumitrescu’s musical education began in her native city, where she studied piano with Iolanda Zaharia, Maria Sova, Cella Delavrancea, and Lidia Cnstian, and music theory with the composer Mihail Jora, a pupil of Max Reger. She continued her studies at the Čajkovskij Conservatory in Moscow with Stanislav Neuhaus and Yakov Fliàre, graduating in 1978 with the highest distinction, a “Diploma of Merit”. She has been a state concert soloist since 1980, and since 1994 she has been the general manager of the George Enescu National Museum in Bucharest.

    Her many recordings are issued in Romania (on the Romanian national label Electrecord) and in the U.S., and include works by Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Enescu. In 1986 her recording of 14 sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti won the International Record Critics Award (IRCA) as one of the best albums of the year; others receiving this prestigious award included such famous musicians as Emil Gilels, Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Bernard Haitink, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Mstislav Rostropovič, and Plácido Domingo.

    She has participated in many festivals, including some under the patronage of Yehudi Menuhin, the “George Enescu” festival (Bucharest), “New Music Week”, “Festival of the Arts” (2004), “Celebrating George Enescu” (Iowa 1997), “Cervantino” (Mexico 2000), and others in Ankara, Bratislava, and Prague.

    Ilinca Dumitrescu has served on many international panels of judges for piano contests (Bucharest, Prague, Tokyo), has performed for television and radio programs all over the world. She has taught piano master classes in the Czech Republic, Brazil, India, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States.

    • An artist of profound sensitivity and complex thought.
    • A great success for the wonderful pianist Ilinca Dumitrescu, a brilliant representative of the Romanian performing arts. (II giornale, Rome, 1999).
    • A magnificent piano recital... (Min On, Tokyo, 2003).