Renowned Violinist Sergiu Luca has performed as a soloist with the leading orchestras of Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Luca’s recording of the complete unaccompanied violin works of Bach, the first rendering on an original instrument, created an international sensation. Luca has subsequently recorded the music of Bartók, Tartini, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Janacek, and Bolcom. All to critical acclaim.

Luca made his concert debut at the age of nine with Israel’s Haifa Symphony. Following his studies in England and Switzerland, he came to the United States to study with legendary pedagogue Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute.

Luca’s American debut came in 1965 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Soon after his debut, Luca was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to play Sibelius: Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic for a special CBS television network tribute to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. He has since performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Cleveland, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Rochester orchestras, as well as the US National Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, New Philharmonia of London, and the Zurich Tonhall Orchestra.

Currently, Luca is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of CONTEXT, a one-of-a-kind classical music ensemble devoted to the presentation of music from a wide range of styles and eras using historically appropriate instruments. Additionally, Luca was the creator of Chamber Music Northwest, the Cascade Head Festival (which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in June 2006) and Da Camera in Houston.

As part of his passion for music and keeping with the principles of CONTEXT, Luca is the collector of many historically significant instruments which are used during his performances. Among these are a one-of-a-kind 1733 Seraphin violin from Venice and a 1829 Sawicki violin that may have been owned by the virtuoso Paganini.

Luca graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music with an Artist’s Diploma in 1966 and holds the Starling Chair of Classical Violin at Rice University.

Discography:

J.S. Bach: The Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin, BWV 1001-1006

William Bolcom - Violin Concerto

The Poet and the Prince, Vol. 1

The Poet and the Prince, Vol. 2

The Poet and the Prince, Vol. 3

Zoltan Kodaly: Sonatas for violin & cello Op. 7 & Op. 8 / Sandor Veress: Sonata     for solo violin

Mozart: Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin