ARCHAEUS – founded in 1985 with a view to promote the most diverse tendencies and trends in contemporary music, formed by ANCA VARTOLOMEI (violincello), RODICA DANCEANU (keyboards), DORIN GLIGA (oboe), ION NEDELCU (clarinet), SERBAN NOVAC (bassoon), ALEXANDRU MATEI (percussion), MARIUS LACRARU (violin), LIVIU DANCEANU (musical leadership), the ensemble is placed under the aegis of Romania’s Composers’ Union. It has performed over 300 de concerts, including more than 550 works (many of them as premières) signed by 300 native or foreign composers, in 80 cities and over 100 concert halls at home, all over Europe and in the USA.

It has also appeared in many major festivals and international musical events in Bucharest, Paris, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, Geneva, Huddersfield, Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Munich, Hannover, Copenhagen, Moscow, Lisbon, Sofia, Kishinev, Bratislava, Rome, Turin, New York, Cleveland, Washington, etc. At the same time, the ensemble has widely recorded thousands of minutes of music for the Romanian Radio Society and radio stations abroad, as well as on discs, audio and video cassettes. It has also performed the sound tracks for over 20 animated cartoons, documentaries, experimental films, etc., its extremely broad repertoire covering various music styles and periods, including the Byzantine music and contemporary music. For its activity, the ensemble has been awarded the ATM Prize 1987, the Critics Award 1991, the Prize of the "Music Today" Journal 1996, the "Soros" Prize 1997.