History
Born in Craiova, Romania, Mr. Prunaru began his violin studies at the age of 6 with Professor Oprisan. His teachers: Mr.Berbec, Ms. Mihaela Mailat, Ms.Adriana Carpen and Ms.Cornelia Bonzetti, guided him through his early years. During this period he won seven national competitions and 1st prize at the International Kocian competition of Czechoslovakia. Then in 1990, Mr. Prunaru was invited by violinist and Maestro Alberto Lysy to study with him at the renowned Menuhin Academy of Gstaad, Switzerland, where he worked among great artists like Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Igor Oistrakh, Ruggiero Ricci, Nikita Magaloff, Jean- Pierre Rampal, Peter-Lukas Graf, and Pierre Amoyal. Mr. Prunaru completed his professional studies with Miss Dorothy DeLay in New York, where he also actively participated in Master Classes with Itzakh Perlman.
Mr. Prunaru made his New York City debut with the Juilliard Symphony in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall after capturing the 1st grand prize in the Juilliard Mendelssohn Competition. Also in 1999, Mr. Prunaru won the 1st grand prize at the E. Nakamichi Wieniawski Violin Concerto Competition resulting in performances with the Aspen Young Artists Orchestra.
Mr. Prunaru has been featured as a soloist with: Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, Belgium National Orchestra, Westdeutsche Sinfonia, Athens Philharmonic Orchestra, Bari Symphony Orchestra, Bucharest Radio-Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Mayo of Buenos Aires, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Meridian Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, the Juilliard Symphony, and the Puchon Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea among many others. Mr. Prunaru has collaborated with many renowned conductors including Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Fabio Luisi, Emmanuel Krivine, Arthur Arnold, Alexandru Lascae, Georges Octors, Dmitri Lyss, Alexander Dimitriev, Peter Oundjian, Yuri Simonov, Andrew Litton, Peter Braschkat, Cristian Mandeal, Lukas Vis, Horia Andreescu, Mario Benzecry, Park Eun Seong amongst many others. Mr. Prunaru performs frequently as a soloist and in recital in all major cities in the world.
Mr. Prunaru has performed at many prestigious Festivals including Aspen (US), Menuhin (CH), Enescu (RO), Brussels, Buenos Aires, Wallonie, Flanders, Evian, Athens, Incontri in Terra di Siena, Ascoli, and Salzburg Festivals. Mr. Prunaru has recorded many CDs with Camerata Lysy, as well as his own debut CD featuring works by Strauss, Brahms, Gluck, de Falla, Saint-Saens, and Sarasate with pianist Luc Devos, which is released by Pavane Records.
The Swiss record company Claves released all three violin concertos by Saint-Saens where violinist Liviu Prunaru is accompanied by the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and the distinguished conductor Lawrence Foster. As a last addition to his discography 3 recordings came out in 2005, Beethoven's Integral violin and piano Sonatas, with Dana Protopopescu as partner, Vivaldi's Four Seasons with Virtuosy from Lviv, conductor Serhyi Burko and Dvorak's violin concerto with David Angus, conductor and Symfonie Orkester of Flanders.
In September 2006, after 14 years of teaching at the Menuhin Academy, Liviu Prunaru became concert master of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam which received, in 2008, for the first time, the title of the best orchestra in the world. October 2010 makes another turn in Prunaru’s musical life with when he accepts to become the musical director of International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland and therefore to continue the tradition of his beloved Masters Yehudi Menuhin and Alberto Lysy! He is playing on a Stradivari dated 1694, graciously offered by the Concertgebouw’s board of sponsors.
The 2010-2011 musical season will include tours, recitals, concerts and Master classes in US, Korea, Japan, China, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, France, Germany, UK, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Argentina, Spain, Italy and Romania.
