Vlad Maistorovici

Vlad Maistorovici
One of the most exciting young artists of his
generation to emerge from Romania, Vlad
Maistorovici is in great demand both as performer
and
composer.
Highlights of
2012
are
collaborations with Nigel Kennedy at St Prex
Classics, conductor Francois-Xavier Roth at
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.
This season will see Vlad Maistorovici perform at St Prex Classics with guitarist Johannes Moller in an
eclectic programme featuring Paganini's Sonata Concertata, as well as new works by Moller and
Maistorovici. The same festival will feature Maistorovici performing with Nigel Kennedy, with the Mercury
Quartet and the Nigel Kennedy Quintet. This season he will perform Pierrot Lunaire with the Mercury Quartet
and soprano Linda Hirst at Jardins Musicaux as part of the quartet's Pierrot Lunaire Anniversary Tour,
Meridian Festival in Bucharest and London's King's Place as part of the European Union National Institute for
Culture Debussy celebrations. Starting September 2012, Maistorovici is taking up the post of Solo Violin of
Ensemble Contrechamps, for an initial period of 1 year.
His performances display 'technical assuredness, balanced by interpretative willingness to push boundaries
that can, and often does make sparks fly' (MusicWeb International). Winner of Remember Enescu
International Competition, The Tillett Trust and a Finalist of Young Concert Artist Trust, he has performed
concerti and recitals that have included appearances at major venues such as London Wigmore Hall, South
Bank Centre, The Sage Gateshead, Salle Flagey Bruxelles, Kulturhaus Helferei Zurich, Merkin Hall New
York, as well as various festivals across Europe, with orchestras such as the European Union Chamber
Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, South Bank Sinfonia, Bucharest Radio Orchestra. A committed
chamber musician, he has had the privilege of performing from an early age alongside renowned musicians
and ensembles, such as Pierre Amoyal, Dora Schwartzberg, Jeremy Menuhin, Ivry Gitlis, Gordan Nikolich.
A versatile performer, he dedicates a lot of time and energy to experimentation and new music. In 2011 he
performed Pascal Dusapin's Violin Concerto Quad as part of the Festival Archipel Geneva. He is a member
of The Mercury Quartet, a dynamic ensemble that focuses on experimental projects. 2011 has seen the
launch of Mercury Radar, a seasonal concert series at London’s The Forge, sponsored by PRS, MBF and
Vaughan-Williams Trust, which has commissioned so far over 10 works for the quartet. The ensemble also
have explored uncharted territories in contemporary classical music improvisation, as can be heard in
Mercury Acoustic, an innovative album of live-composed music and DJ remixes, released in 2010 by
NonClassical and produced by Gabriel Prokofiev. October 2012 sees the launch of Mercury Cinema, an
innovative concept which couples old classics and new cinematic commission with the sound world of the
Mercury Quartet.
This year also sees a number of notable appearences as composer. After a critically acclaimed premiere at
the Barbican Hall in London, his work for orchestra Halo, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra
and the Helen Hamlyn Trust, will receive its continental premiere at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, by the
Orchestre Mediteranee de Jeunes under the direction of Francois-Xavier Roth, as well as at the Marseille
Theatre Sylvain. The Romanian Institute in London have opened this year's cultural season with a concert
entitled Night Music, a multimedia collaboration with artist Cristian Luchian, with a focus on Maistorovici's
chamber works to date. In February 2013 the Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic of his native town of Ploiesti
will feature Maistorovici both as violinist and composer, with a selection of his orchestral works. Maistorovici
is currently working on his first violin concerto, for the Ukrainean violinist Valery Sokolov.
Maistorovici's music is characterised by 'vivid contrasts' (London Financial Times) 'clarity of expression'
(Actualitatea Muzicala Bucharest). In 2003, his string quartet Night Music was awarded the George Enescu
Composition Prize. Premiered at the George Enescu International Fesival, a string orchestra version was
subsequently commissioned by the European Union Chamber Orchestra. He is an allumnus of the BrittenPears Programme, where, under the mentorship of Oliver Knussen, Colin Matthews and Magnus Lindberg,
he composed Ocean Wing for chamber orchestra, which was premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in 2008. In
2010 Antoine Francoise premiered transScent for solo piano at the Cadogan Hall, which was awarded the
Clive Christian 'Sound of Perfume' Award. The same year, the London Philharmonic Orchestra
commissioned Fanfara, which was performed four times under the direction of David Angus as part of the
"Bright Sparks" Education Programme. The same year he composed Microcosm for the LSO Discovery
Panufnik Scheme, which was rehearsed and performed publicly by the London Symphony Orchestra under
the direction of Francois Xavier-Roth at LSO St. Luke's. The success of the work resulted in a commission
from the LSO to write Halo for large orchestra, which was premiered by the orchestra at the Barbican Hall in
March 2011, in a concert conducted by Sir Colin Davis. The same year, St Prex Classics presented Carte
Blanche to Vlad Maistorovici: "Tribute to Freddie Mercury" a cross-over project that features classical
redentions of compositions Freddie Mercury intertwined with chamber works by Vlad Maistorovici.
Maistorovici has given violin and composition masterclasses at the Lilla Akademien Stokholm, Dartington
International Summer School (on the performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire), Bucharest National
University of Music (where the Mercury Quartet annually workshop scores by the composition students).
Born in Ploiesti, Romania (1985), he is a former pupil of the Carmen Sylva Art School where he studied violin
with Adrian Ceapa and Ioana Croitoru, and piano with his mother, Sanda Hîrlav-Maistorovici. At age 16, at
the recommendation of Lory Wallfisch, he gained a full scholarship at The Yehudi Menuhin School, where he
continued his violin studies with Natalia Boyarskaya. He studied violin with Felix Andrievsky and composition
with Mark-Anthony Turnage and Jonathan Cole at the Royal College of Music London, and later violin wth
Pierre Amoyal on a Soloist Master Degree course at the Conservatoire de Lausanne.
He performs on a 1852 Rafaele ed Antonio Gagliano of Naples, kindly lent to him by Mr. Hans van Swaay.
For more information and future projects please visit www.maistorovici.com.
(last update June 2012)