Pianist Cezara Petrescu is Professor at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts in Iași (UNAGE). She studied at the “George Enescu” Conservatory in Iași with Adriana Bera (piano) and Gheorghe Rus (chamber music), and completed her advanced training at the “Gheorghe Dima” Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, where she obtained the degree of Doctor of Music with the dissertation Contributions to the Theorization of Contemporary Musical Performance.
Her specialization in the field of accompaniment is grounded in extensive teaching experience in higher artistic education, a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Musical Institute for Doctoral Advanced Studies (Bucharest), collaborations with national opera houses, repeated participation in national and international competitions and festivals, and masterclasses with renowned performers.
She has received individual awards such as the “Victoria Ștefănescu” Accompaniment Prize (National Competition “Mihail Jora”, Bucharest), the “Doina Micu” Prize for Piano Accompaniment (Festival and Competition “Ionel Perlea”, Slobozia), the Prize for Best Accompaniment (National Performance Competition “Dan Cumpătă”), and the Accompaniment Prize (Competition “Victor Giuleanu”). She has also provided musical preparation and accompaniment for opera productions ranked first in national competitions, including the Opera Fringe Festival Bucharest and the Independent Opera Festival Iași.
She has performed recitals and productions at the Iași Romanian Opera, Brașov Opera, Constanța Opera, “George Enescu” Philharmonic in Bucharest, “Moldova” Philharmonic in Iași, Brașov Philharmonic, Sibiu Philharmonic, “Paul Constantinescu” Philharmonic in Ploiești, the “George Enescu” National Museum, among others, and has made special recordings for radio and CD. Romanian vocal repertoire for voice and piano has been a constant focus of her artistic activity.
In parallel, she pursues an extensive scholarly and research activity (books, published studies, participation in scientific conferences) and is currently a doctoral supervisor at the Doctoral School of Music, “George Enescu” National University of Arts in Iași.
Research areas as doctoral supervisor include:
- Contemporary musical performance (theoretical aspects and case studies)
- The role of the accompanist pianist in contemporary musical productions (style, techniques, working methods, musical preparation strategies, specific requirements, communication, and professional networks)
- Universal vocal–chamber repertoire
- Romanian art song, especially the works of Theodor Grigoriu
- Art songs on poems by Tudor Arghezi
- Art songs based on haiku and tanka poetry
- Chamber repertoire for piano-based ensembles
- Elements of musical performance analysis