Romanian pianist Mădălina Pașol comes from a distinguished musical family whose members have been part of some of Romania’s most prestigious orchestras for three generations. Her father served as Principal Cellist of the Romanian Radio Orchestra, while her grandfather was a celebrated soloist of the same ensemble for four decades.

Her musical journey began at an early age under the guidance of her grandfather. She made her debut at the Romanian Athenaeum performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s Piano Concerto in F minor with the Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra. After graduating from the George Enescu Music High School in Bucharest, she continued her artistic development at the Berlin University of the Arts, where she studied with renowned pianists and professors Georg Sava and Pascal Devoyon.

Throughout her career, Mădălina Pașol has received numerous national and international awards, scholarships, and distinctions, including grants from the Berlin Senate’s NaFöG Programme, the Paul Hindemith Foundation, the Berlin University of the Arts, and the National University of Music Bucharest. She has been a finalist and prize winner in several prestigious international piano competitions, among them the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, the Artur Schnabel Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and the Sendai International Music Competition in Japan.

As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed extensively across Europe and beyond, collaborating with internationally acclaimed artists such as clarinet virtuoso Giora Feidman at the Berlin Philharmonic and conductor Yakov Kreizberg with the Berlin Comic Opera Orchestra. In Romania, she has appeared with leading orchestras and philharmonic institutions, working with distinguished conductors including Cristian Brâncuși, Ludovic Bacs, Iosif Conta, Robert Houlihan, Jin Wang, and many others.

Her performances and recordings have been broadcast by major media and cultural institutions, including Romanian Radio and Television, Deutschland radio, RBB Kultur, Japan Television Productions, Radio România Cultural, and Radio România Actualități.

Alongside her concert career, Mădălina Pașol is deeply committed to music education and the promotion of young talent. She serves as President of the “Pianistic Values” International Piano Competition, an initiative dedicated to supporting emerging pianists, and leads the Institute of Arts, an organization focused on fostering Romanian artists and promoting cultural excellence. Among her most successful public engagement projects are “Pianina – Play me – Sing”, developed in partnership with the Bucharest Metro, and a series of educational concerts presented within the Bucharest Music Film Festival.

She regularly collaborates with major cultural institutions and festivals, including the George Enescu Philharmonic, the George Enescu National Museum, Piano Marathon Festival, Lotte Lehmann Akademie Perleberg, and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Berlin.

Her artistic projects often combine performance excellence with cultural advocacy and educational outreach. Recent highlights include appearances at the George Enescu International Festival and commemorative concerts dedicated to the legacy of Dinu Lipatti.

Her latest album, Algo-Ritm, released by Casa Radio, explores the relationship between rhythmic structures and pianistic expression through a carefully curated selection of classical and contemporary works, including several premiere recordings. The album was launched with a special recital at the Romanian Athenaeum, further affirming her reputation as one of Romania’s most distinctive and versatile pianistic voices.

Pianist Catalin Serban has developed an international artistic career encompassing solo performance, chamber music, and self-initiated artistic projects. Shaped from an early age by a musical environment closely connected to the art of singing, he has cultivated a distinctive artistic profile characterised by expressive sensitivity, refined tonal imagination, and a strong interest in a broad piano repertoire.

Born in Bucharest, he began his musical education at the George Enescu National College of Music under the guidance of Professor Constantin Nițu. He continued his studies at the Berlin University of the Arts with Professors Martin Hughes and László Simon and at the Lübeck Academy of Music with Professor Konrad Elser. Further artistic inspiration came through masterclasses with Claude Frank, György Sebők, Pascal Devoyon, Théodore Paraschivesco, and Elena Lapitskaja.

A prize winner of national and international competitions in Romania, Germany, and Italy, he received scholarships from the Berlin University of the Arts, the Paul Hindemith Society, and the Imbusch Foundation in Lübeck.

Based in Berlin, Catalin Serban performs regularly throughout Europe and Asia. His artistic path has led him to major venues including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie, Bucharest Athenaeum, Die Glocke Bremen, and Stadtcasino Basel, as well as to festivals such as Beethovenfest Bonn, the Brahms Festival Lübeck, the Fränkische Musiktage, the Oberstdorfer Musiksommer, and the Maastricht Chamber Music Festival.

At the heart of his artistic work lies the Romantic and post-Romantic piano repertoire, with a particular interest in early modernism. His concert programmes and recordings explore poetic and structural connections between composers such as Schubert, Chopin, Scriabin, Enescu, Ravel, and Rachmaninov. Critics have praised the “breathing, songful suppleness” of his playing (taz), its “clarity and delicacy of phrasing” and “complexity of expression” (Grigore Constantinescu), while the Badische Zeitung described him as “outstandingly equipped technically … with enormous brilliance and unpretentious virtuosity.”

His discography reflects this artistic vision. Des cloches sonores (2018) brings together works by Schubert, Enescu, and Scriabin, while Resemblances (2022) creates a dialogue between Chopin and Scriabin. Mélodies infinies (Naxos, 2024), recorded with Suyeon Kang, Karolina Errera, and Andrei Ioniță, features piano quartets by Fauré and Enescu and was praised by Gramophone as “a valuable addition to the discography of Enescu’s much-underrated chamber music,” highlighting the “rapturous, mesmerising quality” of Serban’s playing. In 2026, Naxos releases his new solo album, Tableaux en miroirs, featuring Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs and Sergei Rachmaninov’s Études-Tableaux, Op. 39.

Alongside his solo career, chamber music and self-initiated artistic projects play an important role in his work. Together with cellist Andrei Ioniță, he founded the Berlin-based chamber music project Spielende Insel, where he serves as artistic director. The project brings together internationally renowned artists and outstanding young musicians in innovative concert formats exploring the connections between music, visual arts, and literature.

Alongside his concert activities, Catalin Serban is deeply committed to music education. He teaches at the Lübeck Academy of Music and the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and regularly gives masterclasses in France, China, Romania, and the Netherlands.