(b. 2 May 1966, Deva).

Romanian composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, choral, and vocal works that have been performed in Europe.

Ms. Cibișescu-Duran studied piano with Zoița Sfârlea at the Liceul de Muzică Sigismund Toduță in Cluj-Napoca from 1972–84 and there graduated with a diploma. She studied composition with Cornel Țăranu at the Academia de Muzică Gheorghe Dima in Cluj-Napoca from 1985–90, where she then studied orchestral conducting with Petre Sbârcea and Emil Șimon from 1991–96 and earned diplomas in both subjects, as well as her DMus in musicology in 2001. She also attended masterclasses in France and Germany from 1995–97, on scholarships.

Among her honours are three prizes in the competition Gheorghe Dima in Cluj-Napoca (Second Prize, 1987, for Sonata [piano]; First Prize, 1989, for Trio; First Prize, 1990, for Cantata No. 2) and a prize from the Uniunea Compozitorilor și Muzicologilor din România in Bucharest (1991, for String Quartet No. 1). She later received First Prize in the competition Iași and the Premiul of Televiziunea Română in Iași (both 1996, both for Aegean Melancholy) and two prizes in the competition of the Festivalul Lucian Blaga in Sebeș (Lucian Blaga Prize, 1996, for Three Lieder [soprano, orchestra]; Second Prize, 1999, for Three Lieder [tenor, viola, piano]). She also earned two prizes as a conductor in the competition Craiova (Premiul Constantin and Jean Bobescu, 1995; Premiul Filip Lazăr, 1996). Her music has been performed in Germany and Romania.

She is also active in other positions. She worked as a critic for four newspapers in Cluj-Napoca from 1990–96 and later wrote the book Structuri polimorfe în postmodernismul muzical românesc – Polymorphic Structures in Postmodern Romanian Music (2002, Editura Media Musica). Moreover, she has written much poetry, including the books Ascunzișuri de măști – The Hiding Places of Masks (1995, Editura Mesagerul) and Taina egipteană – The Egyptian Secret (1997, Editura Cogito). She founded the ensemble for contemporary music Art Contrast in Cluj-Napoca in 1992 and served as its conductor from 1992–97. She has conducted orchestras throughout Romania.

She taught counterpoint, harmony, music history, and music theory at the Liceul de Muzică Sigismund Toduță from 1990–95. She then taught score reading as an assistant at the Academia de Muzică Gheorghe Dima from 1995–98, where she has been a professor of score reading since 1998. In addition, she has given conferences in Germany, Moldova and Romania.

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

STAGE:

Aria Josef – Das weiße Zimmer – Großvater Josef – Lied beim Wäschewaschen (scenes for an opera, libretto by Jörn Hinkel, after Oleksandr Kostinsky), child's voice, mezzo-soprano, baritone, bass, violin, small orchestra (flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, 2 percussion, 16 strings), 1995 (sections of Jüdisches Glück, a collaboration with Minas Borboudakis, Wilfried Hiller, Jens Joneleit, Eriona Rushiti, Aidos Sagatov, Antje Uhle)

Esther Gesang (scene for an opera), clarinet, 3 percussion, 1996 (section of Lilith, a collaboration with Minas Borboudakis, Wilfried Hiller, Jörn Hinkel, Jens Joneleit, Antje Uhle)

ORCHESTRAL:

Symphony No. 1, large orchestra (65 players), 1990

Evoluții – Evolutions, large orchestra (65 players), 1992

Suite, large orchestra (67 players), 1997

Concerto, viola, 30 strings, 1998

Concerto, violin, orchestra, 2005

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Trio, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 1988

String Quartet No. 1, 1990

Sonata, flute, piano, 1991

Poems, string quartet, 1993

Sonata No. 1, viola, piano, 1994

Fantasia and Toccata, flute, 1995

Sonata, clarinet, 1996

Cântec și dans – Song and Dance, clarinet, 3 percussion, 1996

Duo, viola, cello, 1997

Memento, 2 cellos, 1997

Sonata No. 2, 'Fantasia quasi una sonata', viola, piano, 1998

Suite, 'Seven Verses by Bacovia', violin, 1998

Four Pieces, clarinet, violin, 1998

String Quartet No. 2, 1999

Reflectii – Reflections, cello, piano, 2000

Crochiuri – Sketches, trombone, percussion, 2001

String Quartet No. 3, 2001

Sonata No. 3, viola, piano, 2002

Trio, 2 violas, percussion, 2003

Sonata No. 1, violin, piano, 2003

String Quartet No. 4, 2003

String Quartet No. 5, 2004

Suite, violin, piano, 2005

CHORAL:

Two Romanian Folksongs, mixed chorus, 1986

Humanitas (text by Otilia Cazimir), mixed chorus, 1988

Poèmes pathétiques (texts by Guillaume Apollinaire, Charles Baudelaire), mixed chorus, 1991

VOCAL:

Two Lieder (text by Marin Sorescu), soprano, piano, 1986

Three Lieder (texts by Marin Sorescu, Flavia Teoc, a traditional poem from Romania), soprano, piano, 1986, revised 1997

Sonata (text by Marin Sorescu), baritone, double bass, 1989

Cantata No. 1 (text by Dimitrie Păcurariu), mezzo-soprano, baritone, orchestra, 1989

Cantata No. 2 (text by Ana Blandiana), mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1989

Aegean Melancholy (texts by Menelaos Loudemis, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Milli Gregou, Maria Karagiannis [all translated by Ion Brad]), soprano, mezzo-soprano, piano, 1993

Cantata No. 3, 'I Have a Dream' (text by Horia Bădescu), soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, percussion, 1995

Three Lieder (text by Lucian Blaga), soprano, orchestra, 1996

Sentimentul eonic – Eonic Feeling (song-cycle, text by Dan Damaschin), soprano, viola, 1997

Cantata No. 4, 'Ave Maria', soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, 1997

Three Lieder (text by Lucian Blaga), tenor, viola, piano, 1998

PIANO:

Sonata, 1987

Passacaglia, 1987