Dvorak's New World Symphony

  Born in Timisoara, Romania, violinist Calin Ovidiu Lupanu is the Concertmaster of the Charlotte Symphony. Mr. Lupanu completed his undergraduate studies at the Music Academy in Bucharest, where he served as Concertmaster of the conservatory’s Chamber Orchestra. During his summers as a student, Mr. Calin Lupanu performed in festival orchestras in Lanciano, Italy as Assistant Concertmaster and the Young Soloists Orchestra “Fiori Rari” in Lugano, Switzerland as Concertmaster. Upon graduation, Mr. Lupanu was appointed Violin Professor at the Music Academy.

While in Bucharest, Lupanu joined the newly formed Lipatti String Quartet as first violin, continuing in that capacity for ten years. In 1995,  the quartet was named Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, where Lupanu earned a Performance Certificate in Chamber Music, studying with Ralph Evans, Efim Boico, and the members of the Fine Arts String Quartet. During its studies at UWM, the quartet was featured as Ensemble-in-Residence with the Pabst Theater. Prize winners at the London International String Quartet Competition, the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and the Dmitri Shostakovich Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Lipatti Quartet was invited by the Dmitri Shostakovich Foundation to participate in the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the composer’s birth with a performance at the Opera Comique in Paris, France. In 1997, the Quartet became Quartet-in-Residence at Northern Illinois University, working with the renowned Vermeer Quartet. While there, Lupanu completed his Master Degree and earned the soloist’s Performance Certificate, studying with Shmuel Ashkenasi and Mathias Tacke. Additionally, the Lipatti Quartet has performed in master classes with many of the world’s most respected chamber ensembles, including the Amadeus, American, Borodin, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, Takacs, and Tokyo String Quartets. The Lipatti Quartet toured extensively in the USA, Germany, Great Britain, France, and Romania.

Lupanu’s awards as a soloist include the First Prizes of the International Violin Competition in Stresa, Italy, and the National Violin Competition in Suceava, Romania. Prior to winning the national audition for the Charlotte Symphony position, Lupanu served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, Concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic, Principal player in the Alabama Symphony, and Concertmaster of the West Virginia Symphony. In addition to his season-long responsibilities in Charlotte, Lupanu maintains a busy summer schedule, participating in such festivals as Bach and Beyond, Aspen, Lower Saxony, Strings in the Mountains, and the Colorado Music Festival, the latter of which he has served as Concertmaster since 2004 and Chamber Music Coordinator since 2014.

Lupanu has collaborated with the Fine Arts Quartet, Angela Cheng, Jon Nakamatsu, Orion Weiss, Andres Cardenes, Lynn Harrell, Desmond Hoebig, Jose Feghali, Olga Kern, Joshua Roman, and was featured as a soloist with the Evansville Philharmonic, Alabama Symphony, Green Bay Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. Lupanu is currently on the faculty of Gardner-Webb University and served as Lecturer in Strings at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. 

Mr. Lupanu plays a violin made by Pierre Silvestre in Lyon, France in 1857.