4 September 1949, Cluj-Napoca

Professor of cello at the Sigismund Toduță College of Music in Cluj Napoca (1975-2008)

Gabriela Todor is a remarkable personality who has left her mark on the lives of many cellists she has tutored. She is one of the teachers thanks to whom the Romanian cello school has made significant progress.

Here is what Gabriela Todor, a cello teacher, reveals about her professional life:

“In the 12th grade I played a work composed by Sigismund Toduță, on which occasion I had the great honour of meeting the composer personally, and he gave me a book with his autograph as a token of appreciation.

I have performed as a soloist, either alone or accompanied by various orchestral groups such as: the orchestra of the students of the High School of Music in Cluj, the orchestras of the State Philharmonics of Cluj-Napoca, Brasov and Satu Mare, the orchestra of the students of the “Ciprian Porumbescu” Conservatory in Bucharest, the women’s orchestra “Simfonietta” etc., in the latter of which I also worked as solo cello conductor. Some of the works performed by me have been audio-recorded and are in the sound archives of the “Sigismund Toduță” College of Music in Cluj-Napoca, the National University of Music in Bucharest or the Romanian Broadcasting Company.

Throughout my solo career, I have had the privilege of personally meeting some of the world’s greatest cellist soloists, such as Konstantin Popov, Radu Aldulescu, Mező László and Vladimir Orlov. Moreover, it was Maestro Radu Aldulescu who suggested that I enrol in the cello class of Professor Serafim Antropov (a close collaborator of the great composer George Enescu) at the “Ciprian Porumbescu” Conservatory of Music in Bucharest (now the National University of Music in Bucharest) after graduating from high school.

I have frequently collaborated as a member of the cello part with the orchestra of the “Transilvania” State Philharmonic in Cluj-Napoca and have been co-opted in various musical groups. I have also worked with conductors and accompanied soloists of national and world renown, including conductors Erich Bergel, Ilarion Ionescu-Galați, Horia Andreescu, Emil Simon, Petre Sbârcea, Ludovic Bács, Sachio Fujioka; and soloists José Carreras, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Lola Bobescu, Ágoston András, Ștefan Ruha and Marin Cazacu.

Due to the outstanding results obtained by the students I trained in musical performance competitions and olympiads, I received a merit salary, a merit grading and was awarded several diplomas such as the Diploma of Excellence, the “Gheorghe Lazăr” Diploma and the MOL Mentor Award for Excellence in Education.

I am co-author of the book Serafim Antropov. Artist and true man, coordinated by George Manoliu. In the chapter signed by me, I wanted to pay a pious homage to this man, whose student I had the good fortune to be, and I underlined the determining role he played not only in my training as a performer and mentor, but also in that of the other cellists who were his students or their pupils.

The last of the Six Musical Portraits for Solo Piano composed by my college cello teacher, Serafim Antropov, is dedicated to me.

The exceptional students trained under my guidance are: Marin Cazacu, Răzvan Suma, Mihai Marica, Octavian Lup, Ariana Arcu, Titus Tincu, Andreea Markos, Ciprian Câmpean or Adrian Naidin”.