Sherban Lupu, violin

One of the world’s leading performers of George Enescu’s music, Romanian-born Sherban Lupu studied at the Bucharest Conservatory with George Manoliu. While a student he concertized throughout Eastern Europe and performed on Romanian radio and television. Mr. Lupu left Romania to study in London at the Guildhall School of Music with Yfrah Neaman and he took lessons and master classes with legendary violinists Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szering, Nathan Milstein, Norbert Brainin, and Sandor Vegh.

    Lupu has won prizes in numerous competitions such as: Vienna International, Romanian National String Quartet, Jacques Thibaud in Paris, Carl Flesch in London, Royal Society of Arts, and the Park Lane Group Contest. Subsequently Lupu came to the United States to study with Dorothy De Lay, Josef Gingold, Menahem Pressler. Appearing frequently as soloist in Europe and the United States, Lupu has also performed the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas with Menahem Pressler. However, Mr. Lupu specializes in the music of his native Romania and Eastern Europe, as well as in the virtuoso romantic repertoire.

    His solo appearances include The Kennedy Center, Gstaad Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square and Carnegie Hall. He has also performed the Brahms and Čajkovskij violin concertos in live broadcasts with the BBC Orchestra and has appeared as soloist with the Northern Israeli Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Lupu has collaborated with conductors such as Mendi Rodan, Sir Charles Grove, Harry Blech, Cristian Mandeal, Barry Wadsworth, Owain Arwell Hughes, Ian Hobson, Kirk Trevor among others. Sherban Lupu recorded works by Ysaÿe, Bartók, Enescu, Wieniawski, Ernst, Stravinsky, Bloch, and Ginastera for the ASV, Arabesque, Continuum, Electrecord, Capstone, Zephyr labels, the BBC and he has recently released the recording of the sonatas and partitas for solo violin by J.S. Bach.

    In collaboration with composer Cornel Ţăranu, Mr. Lupu has finished and reconstructed the Caprice Roumain for violin and orchestra by George Enescu, which he performed at the World Exhibition 2000 in Hannover and recorded for the Electrecord label as part of the complete music for violin by George Enescu (with pianist Valentin Gheorghiu and the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Cristian Mandeal).

    In the year 2000, Mr. Lupu received a lifetime achievement award from the Romanian Cultural Foundation for his efforts to promote Romanian culture and music internationally. He is also the recipient of the Arnold Beckman Award (University of Illinois, May 2002), Doctor Honoris Causa (the G. Dima Academy of Music in Cluj, November 2002), and the title of Commander of the National Order of Merit and Service for his worldwide musical and cultural activities (by the President of Romania, January 2004).

    Much in demand as a pedagogue, Mr. Lupu is a frequent member of international juries, has given numerous masterclasses and taught violin courses in England, Holland, Germany, Italy, Romania, Czech Republic, and Poland where in July 2004 he received from the Ministry of Culture the Award for Outstanding Teaching. Mr. Lupu is currently professor of violin and Associate of the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Illinois while also serving as artistic director of the Gubbio Festival in Italy and associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera. Sherban Lupu’s most recent success was to organize the American premiere of George Enescu’s Oedipus and the symposium “Oedipus: Myth and Its Interpretation” at the University of Illinois in September 2005.