• Ariana Arcu cello

    Ariana Arcu, cello

    • School: University of Alabama in Huntsville
    • Location: Huntsville, Alabama, USA

    Ariana Arcu began her musical studies in violoncello at the age of 7 in Cluj, Romania. Dr. Arcu has earned the Bachelor’s degree in cello performance from George Enescu Conservatory of Music in Bucharest, Romania, and the Master and Doctoral degrees in cello performance, from the University of Alabama, U.S.A. Her teachers include Marin Cazacu, Carlton McCreery, Radu Aldulescu, Roland Pidoux and Valentin Arcu. She has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music recitals and was featured as a soloist with orchestras in Romania and the United States of America. She has won awards at national competitions, including first prize at Constanta National Competition in 1994, and second prizes at Ploiesti and Timisoara national competitions in 1992 and 1993. In 2000 she was invited to be a guest-recording artist on The Scorpions’ album Acoustica, and has concertized with them in South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and throughout Europe.

    Currently she holds the Assistant Principal Cello position in Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the faculty at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and A&M University. Since 2010 she has been part of the Arrhythmia string quartet along members of the Alabama Symphony. The quartet collaborated with the Grammy artist Raul Jaurena in several concerts in Europe and U.S.A and recorded together the album The Five Senses in 2014.

    In addition to cello, Dr. Arcu is also a soprano. Her debut role was Cherubino in 2015 Ars Nova’s production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, followed by Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, in February 2017, and Violetta in the concert version of Verdi’s La Traviata with Orchestra Sul Ponticello of Decatur, in March 2018. Other engagements include a voice and cello recital at the United Nations in March 2017, for La Soirée de la Francophonie, an event organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. Currently she is studying with mezzosoprano Ruxandra Donose, while her previous teachers include Ginger Beazley and Jennifer Cowgill.