Petru Iuga
The Romanian double bassist Petru Iuga is one of the most successful classical musicians of his generation. During his musical training in his homeland, the 20-year-old student came to the attention of Yehudi Menuhin and Alberto Lysy , who enlisted him for the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad (Switzerland). After continuing his studies at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, he became a member of the Ensem-ble Orchestral de Paris (Orchestre de Chambre de Paris) and first double bass with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Petru Iuga has won numerous prizes at renowned double bass competitions, including first prize at the 1999 International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen and in 2001 another first at the International Double Bass Festival in Cap Breton (France).Since then, he has been pursuing a worldwide concert career and makes guest appearances as a soloist with leading European orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra. Petru Iuga is professor for double bass at the Staatliche Musikhochschule und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim and also teaches part-time at the Haut Ecole de Musique de Lausanne, Switzerland.He regularly stages master classes all over the world in which he discovers and encourages numerous talented young double bass players. In recent years alone he has given master classes a.o. in Russia, Italy, Portugal, Israel, Japan, Uruguay, China and Canada, where he has held a guest professorship at the renowned Orford Master Classes since 2017 until 2019. He has made several CDs as a chamber musician and he regularly gives concerts with famous fellow musicians. In 2009 he recorded a CD with the Carmina Quartet. His invention, Ergo Bass, a knee support for double bassists that facilitates an ergonomic and healthier playing position, is used world wide by many musicians.