Very few of us have listened to the cembalo as a solo instrument, at the confluence of classical and jazz.
Knowing Marius Mihalache offers us this opportunity.
He was born in Bucharest, on the 27th of May 1974, in a family with musical interests.
He has been studying the ancient instrument – the Cembalo – since he was 6; his teachers were Vitorio Albini (musical theory) and Victor Manu (instrument), in the beginning being interested mainly in classical music.
Owing to Marius Mihalache, the cembalo, a traditional Balkan instrument, reaches new valences and incredible resonance, so does the artist’s spectacular achievements beginning as early as his childhood:
1985 – He gets the 2nd prize at the International Festival for Children, Athena – Greece (he was only 11)
1988 – He gets the Grand Prize at the International Festival for Children, Paris – France.
He won both prizes playing cembalo adaptations from Rachmaninov, Chopin or Liszt.
1991 – At 17, he reaches international fame: he plays a 32 minutes recital at the famous “Scala” in Milan, performing cembalo adaptations of Rachmaninov, Chopin, Schumman, Schubert and Mozart.
1992 – He is invited to Italy, Rome, to play openf Nina Simone’s concert
1992 – In Palermo, on New Year’s Eve, Marius performes a 30 minutes recital, opening Gloria Gaynor’s concert
1993 – He is invited for an interview by RAI UNO TV Channel
1998 – After years of study and preparation, his first album, “ECLIPSE” is released. It contains 9 original adaptations from Romanian folklore, with influences of classical music, pop and jazz.
1998 – Marius was chosen by Chick Corea (out of more than 40 candidates) to open his concert in Bucharest. That was the moment when the Romanian public had the opportunity to listen to him; he was better known abroad then in his own country.
1999 – Marius performs in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain and Turkey.
2000 – In March, he was the subject of a reportage made by CNN.
2000 – In July, he is invited to “Saison Musicale – Royaumont”, France, where he plays in the local cathedral.
2000 – In August, he takes part to the Festival in Menden, Germany.
2000 – In September, he is one of the Romanian representatives at Expo 2000 in Hanover, where he performes 4 concerts etno-pop-rock in a new formula: cembalo, drums and bass guitar.
2001 – Marius takes part to the International Music’s Market at MIDEM in Cannes, France.
2001 – Film music constitutes another important step in the carrier of this unique artist, Marius signing the sound track of the movies “Philanthropic”, directed by Nae Caranfil, and “Garcea”, directed by Sam Irvine.
2002 – Appears on the albums entitled ROOTS and PERFORMANCE LIVE IN GERMANY (released in Germany, with Ovidiu Lipan “Tandarica”, the well-known Romanian drums and percussion performer)
2002 – Marius was a praised presence on the scenes from Spain, Turkey, Holland, Italy, Austria, Helves, Germany, Denmark, in a European Tour organised by the Romanian Ministry of Culture.
2003 – Marius was invited to Geneva, to perform at the headquarter of the Organization of the United Nations, in the presence of the state chiefs, participants at the Summit.
2003 – In a U.S.A tour, he promotes his new album ROOTS.
2004 – 2005 He is signed by Timeconcerts Entertainment, under the management of Chris Sebastian Douglas and John Carlo Bossi.
The company has many surprises up their sleeve for Marius including a SONY / BMG release by 2005 and a possible joint concert with Latin Grammy winner, jazzist Nestor Torres from Miami.
2004 – he performs a concert at the White House, celebrating 100 years of independence of the state of Panama, in the presence of high ranking officials from most world countries, including president G.W. Bush and Ion Iliescu (former President of Romania);
2007 – the album „World Symphony” is released; this is a musical experiment combining jazz, ethno music and lounge played with the cembalo, flute, harmonica;
Between 1995 and 2014 he writes the soundtracks for various movies and TV serials : “Asfalt Tango” (1995), “Filantropica” (2002), “Garcea şi oltenii” (2002), “La urgenţă” (2006), “Ticăloşii” (“The Bastards”) (2007); “Clanul Spranceana” (2007); “Marilena” (2009); “America, venim!” (2014); .
During this period he performs in various concerts and festivals next to musicians like Francis Copolla, Steve Vai, and others;
2012 – his latest musical project “Back To Swing – Marius Mihalache” emerges; with this project he tries to draw the attention back to the music of the 1920s – ’40s, especially on swing music and the beginning of jazz;
December 2013 – he performs a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, on the Millennium Stage.
March 2014 – he opens Kitaro’s concert in Romania, part of the Symphonic World Tour Kitaro.
July 2014 – he was the subject of a reportage made by Discovery Chanel.
April 2015 – he performs in „Our Class” by Tadeusz Sobodzianek, a one-night-only staged reading directed by Cosmin Chivu, in New York;
May 2015 – he writes the music and performs in „Nathan the wise”, after Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, directed by Armin Petras, along with the National Theatre in Stuttgart at Sibiu International Theatre Festival.
September 2016 – master class and concert at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing;
October 2017 – The album entitled Săftiță – balkanic project – is released.
