Soloist Bios

Calin Ovidiu Lupanu, violin

Born in Timisoara, Romania, violinist Calin Ovidiu Lupanu is the Concertmaster of the Charlotte Symphony. 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, 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, he 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 ensemble 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 Opéra 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’s degree and earned a 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 Associate Concertmaster of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, Concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic, Principal of the Alabama Symphony, and Concertmaster of the West Virginia Symphony, as well as first violinist of the Montclaire Quartet. In addition to his seasonlong 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 been a member since 1998 and served as Concertmaster from 2004 until 2022, being the longest serving Concertmaster in the history of the Colorado Music Festival.

A very active chamber musician, Lupanu has collaborated with the Fine Arts Quartet, Angela Cheng, Jon Nakamatsu, Christopher Taylor, Orion Weiss, Andres Cardenes, Lynn Harrell, Desmond Hoebig, José Feghali, Olga Kern, Joshua Roman, Phillip Bush, and was featured as a soloist with the Evansville Philharmonic, Alabama Symphony, Green Bay Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra.

A dedicated teacher, Lupanu maintains an active teaching studio in Charlotte and served as Lecturer in Strings at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Since 2016, Calin Lupanu and his wife, Monica Boboc, have started the non-profit ensemble and series, Chamber Music for All, committed to providing high-quality chamber music performances and educational projects, accessible to both younger audiences and experienced listeners. Chamber Music for All performs concerts throughout the Charlotte greater area.

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

Phillip Bush, piano

Acclaimed as “a pianist of poetry, elegance, and power” (American Record Guide), “a pianist of exceptional, cherishable finesse” (Los Angeles Times), and “one of those rare pianists who combine structural intelligence with a hundred color gradations” (Village Voice), Phillip Bush has established a performing career over the past three decades that is noted for its remarkable versatility and eclecticism, with a repertoire extending from the 16th century to the 21st. Since the launch of his career upon winning the American Pianists Association Fellowship Award and subsequent New York recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1984, Bush has appeared as a recitalist throughout North America as well as in Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. His Carnegie Hall concerto debut with Oliver Knussen and the London Sinfonietta was hailed by The New York Times for its “impressive last-minute heroics,” as he substituted for an ailing Peter Serkin on short notice in concerti by Stravinsky and Alexander Goehr. Bush has also appeared as soloist with the Osaka Century Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony, and a number of other orchestras, in repertoire ranging from the Beethoven concerti to the American premiere of Michael Nyman’s Concerto for Harpsichord.

Bush is widely acknowledged as one of the most experienced American chamber music pianists of his generation, with the Kansas City Star referring to him as “the ideal chamber musician.” He has performed and recorded with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, appeared innumerable times on Brooklyn’s Bargemusic series, and has performed at the Grand Canyon Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains (Colorado), Sitka Music Festival (Alaska), St. Bart’s Music Festival, Music at Blair Atholl (Scotland), Cape May Music Festival, and at many other festivals. He has collaborated in recital and chamber music with concertmasters and principal players of many of the world’s great orchestras, including Berlin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, and Houston. Bush has also made guest appearances with the Kronos, Miami, Parker, Jupiter, Lułoslawski, and Carpe Diem string quartets, and has performed with members of the Emerson, Guarneri, Tokyo, Orion, and St. Lawrence quartets.

Over a ten-year period, Bush performed over 250 concerts in Japan with the piano quartet Typhoon, including several sold-out performances at Osaka Symphony Hall and Tokyo’s Bunkamura Orchard Hall. He recorded five CDs with the quartet for Epic/Sony, all of which reached the top of the Japanese classical charts. From 2007 to 2015, he served as Artistic Director of the Bennington Chamber Music Conference in Vermont, the largest and oldest institute for amateur chamber musicians to study with professional concert artists.

A devoted advocate for contemporary music, Bush performed worldwide for 20 years with the Philip Glass Ensemble and Steve Reich and Musicians in venues ranging from the Sydney Opera House to the Acropolis in Athens. He has also worked directly with many of the most significant American composers of our time, from John Adams to Charles Wuorinen. The New York Times has said, “Mr. Bush may be one of the few pianists who can play both Elliott Carter’s music and Philip Glass’ with equal persuasiveness.” Bush’s efforts on behalf of contemporary music have earned him grants and awards from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the Aaron Copland Fund, ASCAP, Chamber Music America, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His discography as soloist and chamber musician has now reached over 45 recordings on labels such as Sony, Virgin Classics, Koch International, ASV, New World Records, Denon, Cedille, and many others. Recent recordings include the Charles Ives “Concord” Sonata, the complete Beethoven violin sonatas with Aaron Berofsky, and two discs of 20th-century works for oboe and piano with Alex Klein.

Bush grew up in Charlotte, where he studied piano with John Whitaker at Southern Park Music School. Following his graduation from East Mecklenburg High School he went to Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Leon Fleisher. From 2000 to 2004, Bush taught piano and chamber music at the University of Michigan, and has also served as Visiting Faculty at the University of North Carolina. Since 2012, Bush has been Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the University of South Carolina School of Music.