The Artistry of Ionut Pascu: Youth and Education
Ionut Pascu was born in Constanta, Romania. After graduating from the Energetic High School, he was encouraged to pursue professional music study, which had previously been just a hobby. His ten years with the youth ensemble ”Rapsodia Marii” in Constanta, where he actively performed as an accordionist, bore fruit when he competed for admission to the National Bucharest University of Music.
After just one year of private singing lessons with renowned Constanta soprano Aida Abagief, Ionut was the top male candidate accepted into the Vocal Department. He continued his academic studies under the tutelage of the late tenor Dorin Teodorescu and graduated, five years later, with the highest average among all university music departments that year : Magna cum Laude and the Excellence Diploma in Studies - awarded annually to one graduate in the arts, by the Serghie Foundation. He completed his Bachelor’s license performing two significant opera roles : the title role in W.A. Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and Marcello in G. Puccini's "La Bohème," both roles meticulously prepared by the incomparable director of the National Opera of Bucharest, Hero Lupescu, and distinguished conductor Constantin Petrovici.
In the fall of 2001, Ionut Pascu was introduced to the "Oleg Danovski” Opera and Ballet audience, where he worked for three years as a contracted soloist, gaining valuable experience and roles necessary for a serious solo career. He then embarked on numerous international tours with ensembles from Romania (the Netherlands, Germany) and as a guest artist at national opera theaters in the Balkans (Sofia, Skopje, Tirana).
In 2004, he decided to pursue a long-held idea from his student days to deepen his musical studies and broaden his interpretative horizons. thus, Ionut returned to the University of Bucharest, this time in the Faculty of Composition and Orchestral Conducting, graduating after another four years under maestro Cristian Brancusi.
He has a scientific PhD in music, The cinematic symphonism.
He is a fluent English, Italian, German and French speaker.
As a baritone
He has performed successfully in :
Europe : Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia
Asia : South Korea, China
West Asia : Israel
North America : Canada
South America : Argentina
Australia
One of his most significant achievements was at the Sydney Opera, where he performed and recorded the Australian premiere of the monumental work “Cantata della Vita” alongside the Sydney Philharmonic, conducted by the composer, Gianluigi Gelmetti.
From 2010 to the present, he has been closely collaborating with the Tel Aviv Opera and the Masada Festival, where he has brought to life over 20 principal roles praised by critics (Alfio/Tonio, Nabucco, Scarpia, Enrico, Miller, Renato, Gérmont, Marcello/Schaunard, etc.), under the baton of conductors such as David Stern, Daniel Oren, Frédéric Chaslin, Dan Ettinger, Daniel Cohen, and Daniele Callegari.
In 2012, he was recognized as a trainer in the StudiOpera project, carried out and concluded by the National Opera of Bucharest in collaboration with the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he honed his skills with international legends of the lyrical genre, including Renato Bruson and Luciana Serra.
Recently, international audiences have seen him in G. Puccini's operas - Manon Lescaut (alongside Marcello Giordani and Anna Pirozzi) and La Bohème (with Angela Gheorghiu and Stefan Pop), broadcasted from the Royal Opera of Wallonie in Liège on Mezzo television.
As a conductor
He received favorable reviews following concerts and opera performances with the Radio Chamber Orchestra in Bucharest, the National Opera of Bucharest, the Brașov Opera, the Bacău Philharmonic, the “Oleg Danovski” National Opera and Ballet theatre in Constanta, the Jena Philharmonic (Germany), the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan.
On December 6, 2018, during the Romanian Centenary celebration, Ionut Pascu made his conducting debut at the National Opera of Bucharest, as well as orchestrating many musical numbers for the Romanian program of the evening titled “Romanian,” dedicated to National Culture Day, where, alongside the orchestra, soloists, and choir of the Bucharest institution, invited soloists from all opera theaters in the country gathered.
Subsequently, the pieces orchestrated by Ionut Pascu were presented by him at the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Romanian Extraordinary Gala in 2019 and 2022, an event supported by ICR Tel Aviv), as well as under the baton of conductors Iurie Florea in Alba Iulia in December 2019 or Daniel Jinga at Expo 2020 Dubai in January 2022, with the orchestra of the National Opera of Bucharest.
Since September 2019, he has been the manager and conductor of the cultural production company Aida Events (“Connecting Opera,” “Romanian Extraordinary Gala at Jerusalem Symphony,” “Acappella Project”).
Awards
2013 - “David Ohanesian” Award from the Romanian Musical Forum for his title role in Enescu's Oedipe (which he reprised at the National Opera of Bucharest in January 2024, directed by Stefano Poda)
2016 - "Best Opera Soloist" at the State “Golden Mask Awards” in Moscow, for his performance of four distinct baritone roles in “The Tales of Hoffmann”