Lost In 13

their own compositions. Maria Gabriela Simandi

Maria knew since she was just a little girl that she is going to be a singer. Her father took her at an early age to piano and painting lessons in order to help her pursue her passions. After a while, Maria was sure that she wanted to make music and she attended the music high school from her city . There she studied classical canto for two years, switching for the last two to jazz canto. She was also encouraged by her canto teacher to compose, soon realising she can transform her feelings into songs. In 2014 Maria auditioned for The Voice:Romania where she got almost in the semifinales. In the same year she finished high school and applied at the National University of Music Bucharest where she currently studies Jazz Composition. Sergiu Bivol

Sergiu's musical journey started at the age of 6 when he began studying classical piano, soon realising that he was even more charmed by the sound of the trumpet. As a classical trumpet player, Sergiu attended numerous competitions like International Competition for Junior Trumpet Players in Bulgaria where he won first prize. He also performed concerts in multiple countries like France ,Poland and China. He is currently a student at the Classical Departament of National University of Music Bucharest. He met here his fellow band members who later on introduced him to jazz, developing this way a passion for it. He was present at multiple masterclasses where he learned from two great jazz trumpet players: Andrea Tofanelli and Charli Green. Sergiu Chirileasa

Sergiu began his musical career at the age of 6 when he was introduced to classical piano. While he was following his instrumental studies Sergiu discovered his vocal abilities and started playing in numerous bands touching a variety of musical genres like Romanian folkore, rock and even funk. Later he realised jazz would be an even greater challenge as his desire was to develop his improvising abilities. Because of this he was strongly attracted to jazz music so he decided to apply at the Jazz Department of National University of Bucharest where he is studying at the moment. Lavinia Iancu

Lavinia began playing guitar in high school, and while attending business school, she kept her passion for music alive, playing guitar in various alternative projects, theatre plays and so on. After graduating with a Masters in International Business Communication, her path led her to Senegal, where she lived for two years, and the music and people she encountered there inspired her to study jazz composition. She is currently in her fourth year at the National University of Music in Bucharest. Laura Benedek

Since she was young, Laura was always surrounded in different musical activities which later on led her to join a vocal-instrumental ensemble in her city. This was the place where she first started playing bass and developing a passion for it, being encouraged by notable musicians from the country to apply for the Jazz Department at the National University of Music Bucharest. Because of her drive to learn and develop her musicianship even more, she decided to take her chance and apply for a semester abroad, which brought her to study at the University for Music and Theatre Leipzig in Germany. This experience gave her the opportunity to learn from the very best in the domain, to gain courage and confidence in her abilities and skills and to increase her love for music and jazz even more.