Cellist Filip Papa is widely recognised as one of the finest musicians coming from Romania, especially through his activity as the cellist of the “Ad Libitum” String Quartet, where he performs alongside violinists Remus Azoitei and Serban Mereuta, as well as violist Bogdan Bisoc. The “Ad Libitum” is a state quartet based at the “Moldova” Philharmonic in Iasi – Romania and one of the most successful ensembles in Europe. “Ad Libitum” are the Grand Prize winners at the 1997 Evian Quartet Competition in France where they also won an array of special prizes including the International press jury prize and the Mecenat Musical award. They are also the 1st Prize winners of the Max Reger contest in Sonderhausen, Germany and have won many other awards at various competitions. Filip has recorded with the quartet for Naxos, Vielenhaut Records, Electrecord and Quartz Media Production labels, with great acclaim, and has appeared at important music festivals such as the Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo, Orlando in the Netherlands, Luberon in France, Bensheim in Germany, Gstaad in Switzerland, or RadiRo and the Enescu in Bucharest.
He has collaborated with great international musicians including Bujor Prelipcean, Dan Prelipcean, Martin Lovett and Norbert Brainin of the Amadeus Quartet, Wolfgang Laufer of the Fine Arts Quartet, Stephan Metz and Raphael Hillier. As a soloist, Filip has performed many concerts in Romania and Moldova, often sharing the stage with artists such as Remus Azoitei, Alexandru Tomescu, Alexandra Gutu, Razvan Suma, Gabriel Popa, Horia Mihail and Cristina Anghelescu. An over 30-year long quartet career has taken him to venues such as Salle Cortot in Paris, Diligentia in Haga, Konzerthaus Berlin, Conzertgebouw in Amsterdam, Kaisersaal in Frankfurt, Wigmore Hall in London, Beethoven Haus in Bonn, Romanian Atheneum and Radio Hall in Bucharest, among many others.
A native of Timisoara, Romania, Filip has studied in Cluj at the “Sigismund Toduta” Music Highschool and in Iasi at the “G. Enescu” Academy of Arts, under the guidance of Dan Prelipcean, himself the cellist of the legendary Voces String Quartet.
Filip Papa is officially a state soloist of the “Moldova” Philharmonic in Iasi as well as a visiting cello professor of the West University in Timisoara.
