Petru IUGA
Petru Iuga is a professor of double bass at the Staatliche Musikhochschule und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim and also teaches part-time at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne, Switzerland.
Romanian double bassist Petru Iuga is one of the most accomplished classical musicians of his generation. During his musical training in his native country, the 20-year-old student was noticed by Yehudi Menuhin, who enrolled him in his International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland.
After continuing his studies at the Bern University of the Arts and the Paris Conservatory, he became a member of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (now the Paris Chamber Orchestra) and principal double bass of the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Petru Iuga has won numerous prizes at prestigious double bass competitions, including first prize at the Markneukirchen International Instrument Competition in 1999 and another first prize at the Capbreton International Double Bass Festival in France in 2001.
Since then, he has pursued an international career and has appeared as a soloist with leading European orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra. Petru Iuga is a professor of double bass at the Staatliche Musikhochschule und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim and also teaches part-time at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne, Switzerland.
He regularly organizes masterclasses around the world, during which he discovers and encourages many talented young double bassists. In recent years alone, he has given masterclasses in Italy, Portugal, Israel, Japan, Uruguay, China, Russia, and Canada, where he has been a visiting professor at the renowned Orford Masterclasses since 2017. He has recorded several CDs as a chamber musician and regularly performs with distinguished colleagues. In 2009, he recorded a CD with the Carmina Quartet. His invention, ErgoBass, a knee brace for double bassists that facilitates a healthier and more ergonomic playing position, is used by many musicians worldwide.