Born in 1951, Romanian composer Doina Rotaru holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in composition from the National University of Music in Bucharest, where she studied in 1970–75 with Tiberiu Olah and Ștefan Niculescu. She was long-time professor of composition and, in2008–13, head of the composition department at the same University. She has written more than 120 works in nearly every musical genre, from solo, chamber, and choral to orchestral works, and from compositions combining instrumental and electronic sound to theatre music.

Her works have been performed at concerts and festivals throughout the world, including the composer’s original programmes. They have been presented in Europe, the Far East, Australia, Canada, North and South Americas. Doina Rotaru has received commissions from RadioFrance, Radio Graz, Suntory Hall Tokyo, the French Ministry of Culture, Warsaw Autumn, Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, ensembles and soloists from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Switzerland. Doina Rotaru has received accolades from the Romanian Academy (Bucharest, 1996) and the UCMR Union of Composers and Musicologists from Romania (1981, 1986, 1990, 1994,

1997, 2001, 2004, and 2007). For her Symphony no. 2, she won the 1st Prize the GEDOK International Competition for Female Composers (Mannheim, 1994).

She has been invited as guest lecturer to Germany (Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, 1992, 1994), the Netherlands (Gaudeamus International Composers’ Workshop in Amsterdam, 1990, 1992), the United Kingdom (Huddersfield University and Brighton, 1995), Japan (Tokyo Suntory Hall, 2001), Iceland (Skalholt, 2006), France (Paris and Lille, 2009),Sweden (Stockholm, 2010), Italy (2011, 2019), Poland (2018), and Spain (2019).

Rotaru’s music has been released by such companies and record labels as Attacca Records, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Electrecord, MPS, Nova Musica, L’Empreinte Digitale, Megalone, and Sonoton. Her scores are published by Editura Muzicală in Bucharest, Editions Leduc and Henry Lemoine in Paris, as well as Babel Scores.

Selected works: The Crossroads of the Poppies for piano (1980), Jeu de miroirs for four flutes (1984), Symphony no. 2 (1988), Dor for altoflute (1989), Spiralis III for alto flute and guitar (1992), Over Time for shakuhachi and bass flute (1992), Lights from a Rainbow for chamber orchestra (1993), Concerto no. 1 Seven Levels to the Sky for saxophones and orchestra (1993), Concerto no. 4 Florilegium for transverse flute, alto flute and flute orchestra (1996) Tempio di fumo for flute (1997), Alean for four saxophones (1997), Uroboros for two flutes (1998), Shadows (Umbre) for viola and chamber orchestra (1999), Wings of Light for 24 flutes (2000), L’Éternel Retour for eight cellos(2000), Crystals for flute and piano (2002), Matanga for bass saxophone and six percussionists (2005), Entrelacs for five traditional Japanese instruments (2005), Japanese Garden for flute and tape (2006), Mithya I for flute (2007), Ielele for flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, percussion and string quintet (2007), Geyzer for percussion and tape (2008), Concerto no. 5 L’Ange avec une seule aile for flute and orchestra (2010),Metabole III for chamber ensemble (2012), Il Pianto del Ghiaccio for four flutes and percussion (2016), Vivarta for string quartet (2009–17), Jyotis for flute (2017), Obsessivo II for flute, recorder, harp and harpsichord (2018), Nymphea for orchestra (2019).