Șerban Nichifor (born 25 August 1954) is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

composer, cellist and music educator.

Biography

Șerban Nichifor was born on 25 August 1954 to Ermil Nichifor (1916–1997) and Livia Nichifor, née Balint (1922–2017) in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania. Both his parents were physicians. His father was also a musician and conductor of the Orchestra of Physicians in Bucharest.Nichifor, Șerban (2017)
Homage to my Mother

IMSLP The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki softwar ...

Nichifor studied at the

National University of Music Bucharest The National University of Music Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Naţională de Muzică București, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in ...

from 1973 to 1977 and took composition courses in 1978, 1980 and 1984 in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1994, he received a Ph.D. in Musicology from National University of Music and from 1990 to 1994, also studied at the Theology Faculty of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

.Cosma, Octavian
"Nichifor, Şerban"
Grove Music Online. Retrieved 23 April 2013 . In 2015, he was awarded a PhD summa cum laude in conducting , and wrote a thesis ''SHOAH – The Holocaust Reflected in My Musical Creation''. He has composed many works dedicated to the victims of

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. According to musicologist Octavian Cosma, Nichifor's eclectic style is based on neoromanticism but has included elements of jazz (in his Third and Fourth Symphonies) and the use of tape recordings as in his opera ''Domnişoara Cristina''. In the 1990s, he "developed a simplified style employing themes reminiscent of Byzantine chant." Music of Șerban Nichifor is performed by leading musicians from all around the world. In February 2022, the Russian premiere of his work "Cries from Earth to Heaven" performed by Anastasia Vedyakova and Anastasia Bykova, took place. Nichifor is a professor at National University of Music. He married the late Romanian musician and composer Liana Alexandra in 1978. They performed together as cellist and pianist in the Duo Intermedia from 1990 and were co-directors of the Nuova Musica Consonante – Living Music Foundation Festival.

Prizes and honors

Among Nichifor's prizes and honors are the 1977

Gaudeamus International Composers Award The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is made by the Gaudeamus Foundation. The prize is awarded yearly, to a young composer at Dutch music concert, ''Gaudeamus Muziekweek''. The Gaudeamus Foundation had held an annual music week of Dutch c ...

and the Belgian Order of the Crown (conferred in 2008).

Principal works

Opera, symphonic, vocal-symphonic and visual music *"Constellations" for Orchestra (1977) *Symphony I "Shadows" (1980) *Cantata "Sources" (1977) *Cantata "Gloria Heroum Holocausti" (1978) *Opera "Miss Christina" (libretto by Mircea ELIADE,1981) *Symphony II "Via Lucis" (1985) *Symphony III "American Symphony – I" (1986) *Symphony IV "American Symphony – II" (1987) *Symphony V "Pro Patria" (1987) *Symphony VI "Time Archways" (1988) *Cantata "Remember" (1988) *"Missa da Requiem" (1990) *Chamber-Opera "Talaria" (libretto by Etienne DE SADELEER, 1994) *Cantata "Per Christum" (1997) *"Concerto GRIEGoriano" for Piano and Orchestra (1997) *Chamber-Opera "Le Martyre de Saint Claude Debussy" (libretto after Claude Debussy and E.A.Poe, 1999) *Symphony VII "Cello Memoirs" (2001–2003)Nichifor, Șerban (2001–2003)
Symphony VII “Cello Memoirs”

*"Cries from Earth to Heaven" – to the Holocaust martyrs (2007)Nichifor, Șerban (2007)
Cries from Earth to Heaven

*"Tribute to Joseph Smith, The American Prophet" – visual music (2005–2007)Nichifor, Șerban (2005–2007)
Tribute to Joseph Smith

*Shoah – music dedicated to the Holocaust martyrs (2010–2013)Nichifor, Șerban (2010–2013)
Shoah – music dedicated to the Holocaust martyrs

*Pentagon – visual music (2010)Nichifor, Șerban (2010)
Pentagon (visual music)

*God Bless America! – visual music (2010) Nichifor, Șerban (2010)
God Bless America! – visual music

*Symphony VIII "Tom & Huck" (2011–2012) Nichifor, Șerban (2011–2012)
Symphony VIII Tom & Huck

*Symphony IX "God Bless Romania" (2016) Nichifor, Șerban (2016)
Symphony IX God Bless Romania

*Piano Concerto No.2 (2016) Nichifor, Șerban (2016)
Piano Concerto No.2

*Homage to my Mother (dedicated to Dr. Livia Balint-Nichifor) (2017) Chamber, choral, and vocal music *"Postludium" per Organo (1975) *"Sorcova" per Coro Misto a capella (1995) *Quartetto per Archi I – "Anamorphose" (1976) *"Carols" per Trombone e Percussione (1978) *"Invocatio" per Flauto e Celesta (1979) *"Canto di Speranza" per Flauto, Violino, Viola, Cello e Pianoforte (1981) *"Onirophonie" per Fl., Vn.e Pf. (1982) *"Chanson d'Antan" per Vn.e Pf.(1983) *"Carnyx" per Clarinetto (1984) *"Tango for Yvar" per Pf.(1984) *Quartetto per Archi II – "Vallons de l'Oubli" (1984) *"Aprite le porte di questo castel" per Coro Maschile (1984) *"Morendo" per Cb. e Pianoforte (1985) *"6 Melodies Irlandaises d'Amerique" per 2 Ob.,C.i. e 2 Fg. (1985) *"Czarna Rosa" per Mezzo-Soprano e Pf. (1986) *"7 Canti Rumeni di Natale" per 4 Trombe, 4 Tromboni ed Organo (1986) *"Horn Call Rag" per Corno e Pf. (1986) *"Ave Maria" per Soprano ed Organo (1987) *"Isola di Euthanasios" – Sonata "sopra acqua e pietra" per Pianoforte (1988) *"Transgressio" per Fl.,Ob. e Fg. (1989) *"Battuta" per Percussione (1989) *"Il nome della rosa" for violoncello and piano 4 hands (1989) *"Lacrimosa" per Tenore e Pf. (1989) *"Meditatio"per Organo (1990) *Missa "Actio Gratiarum Oecumenica" per Coro Misto a capella (1991) *"Natalis Domini" per Coro Misto a capella (1992) *"Isihia" per Cello (1992) *"Epiphania" per Cello e Pianoforte (1993) *"Rorate Caeli" per Soprano ed Orchestra da Camera (1994) *"Medium per Arpa" (1995) *"Medium per Flauto" (1995) *"3 Christmas German Chorals" for Organ (1997) *"Hommage a Debussy" per 2 Pf. – ossia Pf. e Nastro Magnetico (1998) *"La Nuit Obscure" per Orchestra da Camera (1998) *"Invocation a Themis" per Sax. Alto (2001) *"Isihia" for violoncello and tape (2002) *Tu es Sacerdos (To my Mother Dr. Livia Nichifor) (2017)Nichifor, Șerban (2017)
Tu es Sacerdos

Discography

* Șerban Nichifor, Liana Alexandra, Anton Șuteu, ''Anamorphose'', ''Incantații II'', ''Culori'', – Cvartetul Gaudeamus, Formația Musica Nova, LP, Electrecord ST-ECE 01694 * "Olympia Romanian Concert" – "Four Tablatures for Lute by Valentin Greff Bakfark" by

Sigismund Toduță Sigismund Toduță ( Simeria, 17 May 1908 – Cluj-Napoca, 3 July 1991) was a Romanian composer, musicologist, and professor. Biography Toduță graduated from the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art in Cluj in 1936. His instructors included ...

, "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" by

Paul Constantinescu Paul Constantinescu (; 30 June 1909, Ploieşti – 20 December 1963) was a Romanian composer. Two of his main influences are Romanian folk music and Byzantine chant, both of which he used in his teaching. One of his students was composer Margar ...

, "American Symphony No.4 – From West to East" by Șerban Nichifor, Audio CD, Olympia, London, OCD 417 * ''Video Music Cyberart – Liana Alexandra, Șerban Nichifor'' – ''12 Variations'', ''Infinite Song'', ''Sticky Dances'', Video DVD, Electrecord EDVD 001, Licență Nr. RO8AV20500382 *''Music from Romania and Belgium'': Cesar Franck,

Jacques Leduc Jacques Leduc (born November 25, 1941) is a Canadian film director and cinematographer. Biography Leduc began his career in 1961 working as a film critic for the magazine ''Objectif''. The following year, at the age of 21, he was hired as a ca ...

, Raoul De Smet, Boudewijn Buckinx, Liana Alexandra, Șerban Nichifor – Duo Intermedia, Șerban Nichifor (cello) and Liana Alexandra (piano), Editura Muzicală, Poziție catalog 038, Licență U.C.M.R.-A.D.A. 5AF081508184 * ''Luxembourg Sinfonietta – World Premiere Recordings'', “La Nuit Obscure”, Audio CD, Editions LGNM, No. 401, BP 828, L-2018 Luxembourg * '' 60x60'' (2004–2005) Vox Novus VN-001 * ''60x60'' (2006–2007) Vox Novus VN-002Eddins, Stephen. Review: ''60x60 2006–2007''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. Retrieved 23 April 2013.

References

Further reading *Tartler, Grete (1984). ''Melopoetica''. Editura Eminescu *Tyrrell, John and Sadie, Stanley (eds.) (2001). "Nichifor, Şerban", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', Second Edition, Volume 17, pp. 865–866. Macmillan Publishers Limited

External links

* *Centrul de Informare Muzicală din România – CIMRO
Şerban Nichifor
*National University of Music Bucharest
Serban Nichifor
*Romania-on-line, ''Who's Who''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichifor, Serban 1954 births 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Ballet composers Gaudeamus Composition Competition prize-winners Living people Male classical composers Male opera composers National University of Music Bucharest alumni National University of Music Bucharest faculty Postmodern composers Romanian classical cellists Romanian classical composers Romanian opera composers 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)