Recently awarded in Germany and Romania, the young cellist Ștefan Cazacu has added two international distinctions to his palmares: first prize at the International Danube Festival – Donaufest (Ulm, Germany – 2022) and third prize at the George Enescu International Competition (Bucharest, Romania – 2020-2021 edition). 

Ștefan Cazacu enjoys a good reputation which is the basis of a successful career. He received an early and complex education in a famous family of musicians, studied music at universities in Bucharest and Vienna, won prizes in various national and international competitions and was appreciated – as a soloist or as a member of the Romanian Youth Orchestra – in countries such as Holland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Republic of Moldova, Turkey, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, China, United States of America.

His story in the world of music is written with a collector’s cello as his travelling companion, which Ștefan has had the privilege of playing since the age of 15. His instrument was created more than 100 years ago, in 1917, in Turin, Italy, by the violin maker Georg Ullman. 

In recitals and concerts – as a soloist or as a member of the Romanian Youth Orchestra – Ștefan Cazacu has been applauded on important European stages, such as the Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, the Philharmonic Hall in Paris, the Konzerthaus and Philharmonic Hall in Berlin, the Elbphilarmonie Hamburg, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, the Philharmonic Halls in Skopje, Sofia, Belgrade. He has also performed on Romanian stages, such as the Romanian Athenaeum, Radio Hall, Palace Hall, Bucharest National Opera and in the halls of philharmonic orchestras throughout the country. 

He has participated in events such as the Mahler Festival in Toblach – Italy, Milan Youth Orchestra Festival, Ravello Festival, Young Euro Classic Festival – Germany. 

He has collaborated as a soloist with all the Romanian symphony orchestras, including the George Enescu Philharmonic, the National Radio Orchestra and the Radio Chamber Orchestra, but also with the Philharmonic of Chișinău (Republic of Moldova) or with the Alicante Youth Orchestra – Spain, etc. Among the conductors who have accompanied him are Cristian Mandeal, Horia Andreescu, Cristian Măcelaru, Camil Marinescu, Theo Wolters. 

His talent has been rewarded by numerous distinctions, such as 1st prize at the Liezen International Competition – Austria (2008), 2nd prize at the Antonio Janigro Competition – Croatia (2008), Grand Prize at the national selection for the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition – Bucharest (2010) and others. 

Born in 1994, Ștefan Cazacu began his musical training at the age of 6 with his father, the famous cellist Marin Cazacu. He studied at the National University of Music in Bucharest, at the class of another important Romanian cellist: Răzvan Suma. 

Thanks to the Erasmus scholarship offered by the European Union, he completed his master studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, one of the most important music institutions in the world, whose history began more than 200 years ago, in 1817. 

Ștefan Cazacu has participated in master classes held by renowned international cellists such as Reinhard Latzko, Wolfgang Boettcher and Frans Helmerson.

In addition to his solo activity, in recent years Ștefan Cazacu has chosen to devote himself in parallel to teaching, giving further of his experience to contribute to the training of young musicians. Thus, Ștefan Cazacu teaches (since 2020) at the National University of Music Bucharest and at the “Dinu Lipatti” National College of Arts and has held a series of masterclasses. 

His most recent masterclass is the one presented at the CellEAST International Festival – the first cello festival in Romania (2022), where he was also invited as a soloist, performing with the Romanian Youth Orchestra. 

In October 2018, together with his parents and his sister – cellist Marin Cazacu, flutist Constanța Cazacu and violinist Iulia Cazacu – Ștefan participated in his first national tour, entitled Classical to the Third Power. 

Since 2011, Ștefan Cazacu has also been collaborating with the Violoncelissimo ensemble, created by his father Marin Cazacu in 1992. The ensemble assumes a flexible formula – comprising between 4 and 100 cellos – depending on the event. Together with Violoncelissimo, Ștefan Cazacu has played abroad, in cities such as Brussels and Washington DC, but also in the country, in Bucharest, Iași, Timișoara and so on. 

Ștefan also often plays with cellist Mircea Marian – the two artists presenting themselves to the public under the name of Duo Serafim – and has been appreciated in the PlaCello ensemble – together with Răzvan Suma, Ella Bokor and Mircea Marian.