Florin Estefan
baritone, originally from Oradea, Romania, attended the Faculty of Music at the State University of his hometown, graduated from the Gh. Dima Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca in 2004 and became a soloist at the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca, already in the second year of studies, at the
age of 20. In December 2007, he graduated in the first-ever class of the Cardiff International Academy of Voice with the famous tenor Dennis O’Neill as his singing teacher. In 2012 he returned as a soloist at the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca, becoming General Manager of the famous lyrical institution in February 2015. He is the youngest manager in the 97-year history of this first lyrical institution established in Romania.

The year 2016 brought Mr. Estefan important recognition by receiving the title of “Best Soloist of the Year” at the Bucharest National Opera, during the National Opera Gala, for the interpretation of the role of Evgeni Onegin in the production of the Romanian National Opera in Cluj.

From 2014 until present times Florin Estefan has been a PhD student in Management at the Faculty of Economics and Business Management within the Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca.

Two years after obtaining the title of Doctor of Music, starting in October 2018, baritone Florin Estefan was employed as a Doctoral Lecturer at the prestigious Gh. Dima Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca.

Florin Estefan won numerous competitions and sang on various stages both in Romania and abroad, playing an important series of roles such as Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni, WA Mozart), Figaro and Conte Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro – WA Mozart), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor, G. Donizetti), Malatesta (Don Pasquale, G. Donizetti), Belcore (L`Elisir d`Amore, G. Donizetti), Evgeni Onegin (Evgeni Onegin, PI Tchaikovsky), Amonasro (Aida, G. Verdi), Germont (La Traviata, G. Verdi), Renato (Un Ballo in Maschera, G. Verdi), Marchizul de Posa (Don Carlo, G. Verdi), Il Conte din Luna (Il Trovatore, G. Verdi), Marcello (La Bohème, G. Puccini), Sharpless (Madame Butterfly, G. Puccini), Michele (Il Tabarro, G. Puccini), Jack Rance (La Fanciulla del West, G. Puccini), Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress, I. Stravinsky).

His symphonic vocal repertoire includes L. von Beethoven (Ninth Symphony), J. Haydn (Cecilien Messe), W.A. Mozart (Requiem), G. Rossini (Petite Messe Solenelle), C. Orff (Carmina Burana), G. Faure (Requiem) M. Mussorgsky (Song and Dances of Death).

As General Manager of the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca, Florin Estefan managed to increase the participation of young people at the institution’s performances, reaching a percentage of 72% of the total audience, through numerous awards and “event” shows, through a new approach to reaching the public and through programs and projects for everyone, in unconventional spaces, with free access, such as the Open Opera.