Cultural affinities by WIN Gallery – ANDREEA STOICA, Kamerata Stradivarius Orkestr

Andreea Stoica talks about music the way others talk about themselves: with a natural grace, vulnerability, and rigor. She started playing the piano at the age of six at the "George Enescu" National Music College, and at the age of twelve she already made her debut with Mozart alongside the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra. Her studies took her from the University of Music in Bucharest to the Conservatory in Amsterdam, then through classrooms and decisive encounters with masters such as Pollini, Badura-Skoda, and Andre Previn. She has played on the greatest stages of Europe — from the Concertgebouw and Musikverein to the Romanian Athenaeum — but has remained faithful to an inner, discreet path.

WIN Gallery: Your family was your first "conservatory," and your childhood greatly influenced your artistic journey. When you look back at your beginnings, what memory do you feel defines you most as a person and as a musician?

Andreea Stoica: I can't recall of a specific moment or situation, but rather of an atmosphere, because I could say that I was born with music surrounding me in my home. My father studied the flute and piano, instruments that were left "within reach" for us, the children, and this musical instinct came naturally. That's why I can't say that I was guided in this direction, but more that music came into my life even before I started talking. Both my parents were musicians, so things always unfolded naturally, representing everyday life. My father didn't want me to go down this path at first; it was my mother who enrolled me in music school, especially since we had a piano at home and it would have been strange not to know how to play. So, she insisted on this path and moved me to the "George Enescu" music high school. It was obvious that I really liked it and enjoying it, because if it's not forced, you naturally gravitate towards that instrument. I can say with certainty that I didn't feel any pressure from anyone. And I feel that whenever I look back to my childhood years, music brings me home, it transports me and gives me that feeling that I belong there, that that is where I find balance and family peace.

WIN Gallery: What music was being played in your family`s household when you were a child? What was the music you grew up with - flute, piano, vinyl?

Andreea Stoica: You're going to laugh, but... I listened to a cassette player. My father played in the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra for many years and would come home with recordings, first on records / vinyl and then, years later, on cassettes and CDs, and things changed. We had cassettes with classical music, from baroque to romantic, we were basically listening to everything he was listening to, so classical music had a huge impact on us when we were little.

Pianist Andreea Stoica during a concert with Kamerata Stradivarius

WIN Gallery: Did you have a favourite composer, musician, or style of music that engaged more of you and made you vibrate?

Andreea Stoica: I listened to piano music and, to be honest, I didn't have a particular composer. There were parts that I really liked and wanted to listen to, over and over again, so I would ask my parents to play them in a loop. But let's not forget the legendary music from Tom and Jerry series, which is still fantastic today! I really enjoy watching these cartoons even at this age and listening to the soundtrack; it's sensational! Of course, we watched cartoons on VHS tapes, and I remember that one of the episodes featured Franz Liszt's Second Rhapsody, which is still one of my favourite masterpieces. And yes, we would ask my father to rewind the tape and play Tom's concert again and again.

WIN Gallery: From Tom and Jerry, I suggest we move on to... the harpsichord, a rare instrument often perceived as "niche" instrument. What attracted you to it and could you share the differences between a piano and a harpsichord?

Andreea Stoica: First, the difference is related to the way it is constructed—it appeared in the 16th century, and its construction was totally different from the piano we know today. It is, in fact, a precursor to the piano, and the strings played on the harpsichord are made of a different material, not of steel. It also lacks the resonance we feel in today's piano because it lacks the metal part—the bronze plate that helps with tuning and resonance—as the harpsichord is made of wood. The sound box is much smaller and the sound – considering that at the time there was only one very thin string on the harpsichord where today there are three on the piano – the sound of the harpsichord is very different. It is actually "plucked," not struck with a hammer, as is on the piano. And there's something else: the sound of the harpsichord seems fragile, but it is actually very powerful because it is distinct, penetrating, and personal; you can't compare it to anything else. It gives you a feeling that alternates between rigor and freedom that is difficult to put into words. Having listened to Baroque music since I was a child, I have always had a soft spot for this instrument; it is my favourite.

WIN Gallery: Do you think you require a special sensitivity to play the piano?

Andreea Stoica: I think you can't help but have it if you're a musician. It's something you realize as music becomes part of your life. You are a sensitive person from the early beginnings, it's inside of you, but it depends on how much you want to let it unfold.

WIN Gallery: Continuing the series of curiosities, are there musical pieces created for people with longer fingers?

Andreea Stoica: You see, there is no such thing as a pattern for "who can play the piano and who cannot." The problem is different—sometimes, a piece written by a composer with much larger hands (for example, Liszt, who had hands three times larger than mine!) will take three times longer to learn and be much more difficult to play than it would for the composer. The workload is greater because my hand size doesn't help me.

Andreea Stoica at the piano (photo from the artist`s personal archive)

WIN Gallery: In any family, the relationship between a brother and sister is marked by ups and downs. How do you view your relationship with your brother, Răzvan—the founder of Kamerata Stradivarius—and how has it changed since you became stage partners?

Andreea Stoica: It may seem strange to you, but I think we were very lucky because we never fought. We never fought as children, never pulled each other's hair, absolutely nothing even remotely close to this. The relationship between us is truly special, and I mean that it has nuances, colours, and everything that a relationship between a brother and sister entails. The fact that we have been on stage since our first class-audition — it's an exaggeration to call it an audition, I mean what happened in first grade, on stage — and I, being older, already knew how to play the piano, led to our collaboration, and felt as something natural, as something that was meant to happen.
Since then, seeing it as a game, with both of us living under the same roof, things have evolved in a beneficial way and we have stayed on the same path together. I think that in all these years – over 30 – Răzvan has only played with another pianist on stage for four or five times... That's how close our collaboration is.

WIN Gallery: The next question may take you by surprise: what does it mean for you to make mistakes? To make mistakes in music, but also in everyday life? Do you feel pressure in the sense of not making mistakes?

Andreea Stoica: No, never! Because that's what I do every day—I make mistakes. I make mistakes so that I can get on stage with the finished result that the audience hears and waits for. But I think we can look at this issue from another perspective: how do you make mistakes and what do you actually learn from them? If you manage to stop making mistakes, for example, in a 1-minute musical passage, you have already reached another level. And the period when mistakes occur constantly also changes; it's only a matter of time before that mistake turns into an asset and is resolved.

WIN Gallery: In addition to concerts for the public, you and Răzvan decided to reach out to teenagers/high school students by going to them, in their classrooms. What is the story behind the project and what do you feel has changed because of this initiative?

Andreea Stoica: "A Stradivarius in Schools" is a project that began two years ago at the initiative of the Gaudium Anime Foundation in Iași, with whom we have been collaborating very nicely for some time. President Cătălina Pârvu had this idea and was very keen to implement the concept, being a lover and consumer of classical music. For our part, we were very happy and open to participating in this project, because there are many cities in Romania that do not have physical access to culture—there are no philharmonic orchestras, there is nothing related to culture. The idea started from the fact that if they cannot come to us, then we can go to their space, the teenagers' space, to familiarize them with classical music. The sessions are short, they last for about 30 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session, which often lasts several hours. The questions are related to instruments, to the violin that Răzvan plays, and the children's curiosity about the Stradivarius violin is extraordinary. The students are fascinated, many of them not having room in the auditoriums and sometimes being selected by age so that they could all participate.

andreea-stoica-in-vizita-la-win-gallery-2026

WIN Gallery: Regarding yourself—yesterday versus today—did you feel a change (artistically and personally) when Răzvan obtained the right to play the Ex-Ernst 1729 Stradivarius violin? Did you feel a different responsibility on stage?

Andreea Stoica: There was a change, that's for sure! But whether it was small or big, I wouldn't know how to classify it. It was a change that came with responsibilities, with enormous satisfaction, but also as recognition and maturation. For Răzvan, I can say that he has achieved what every violinist wants to achieve, which is to play a violin of inestimable value, of such historical value, first and foremost. In addition to responsibilities, it also comes with the fact that you must be honest about what you are carrying on and you have to protect the sound of this instrument, that is, you have to know how to carry it on. That is your purpose in the end, not to keep it for yourself.