Bogdan Văcărescu
Bogdan is a Romanian-born concert violinist based in the UK.
He has toured internationally since his teens, performing at venues including the Sydney Opera House, the Athenaeum in Bucharest, the Romanian National Radio Hall, The United Nations Concert Hall in New York, New Morning in Paris, Kings Place and the Southbank Centre in London.
He has made numerous recordings for Romanian National Radio and Television, BBC Radio and ABC Australia, and has performed solo violin on soundtracks for films and documentaries, collaborating with award-winning composer Andy Hopkins, Oscar-winning composers Stephen Warbeck and Gabriel Yared, as well as productions for BBC and ABC Television.
A regular guest on BBC Radio 6 Music with Cerys Matthews, Bogdan performed the solo violin for The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov for BBC Radio, collaborating with director Sasha Yevtushenko and composer Stephen Warbeck. He later composed the music for The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams for Drama on 3, continuing his collaboration with Yevtushenko.
He toured internationally for many years with the comedy-cabaret string quartet Graffiti Classics, before spending five years leading his Balkan band, Paprika.
His album, “Violin and Piano Thrillers” with renowned British pianist Julian Jacobson, was named Album of the Year in Romania and received a five-star review in Musical Opinion. It features Enescu’s Sonata no. 2 in F minor followed by virtuosic gems rarely performed since Heifetz. New projects include a collaboration with Bulgarian pianist Valentina Seferinova.
As founder and artistic director of “String Dimensions” he champions beautiful chamber music that is rarely heard in today’s concert halls or on radio programmes.
With Unicorn Frequency he explores and reimagines Hungarian folk, Romanian laments and showpieces, Bulgarian dances, Russian Romani music, Italian pizzicas and tarantellas and Griko tunes, alongside free improvisation, jazz and unique arrangements of masterpieces from the classical repertoire.
Bogdan is currently an associate lecturer at the University of Chichester where he teaches violin.
Bogdan is a graduate of the Music Conservatory in Bucharest and the Royal Academy of Music in London as a student of Beno Schwartzman, Paul Ratz and Gyorgy Pauk.
