Ștefan Neaga

Ștefan Neaga
Born	(1900-12-07)December 7, 1900 Kishinev, Russian Empire (now Chișinău, Republic of Moldova)
Died	May 30, 1951(1951-05-30) (aged 50)
Era	Folk-inspired early modern
Notable work	Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic

Ștefan Neaga (Moldavian Cyrillic: Штефан Няга; Chișinău, 7 December [O.S. 24 November] 1900 – 30 May 1951) was a Moldavian composer. He was known in Russian as Степан Тимофеевич Няга(Stepan Timofeyevich Niaga). He was the son of the moldavian "Lautar" folk musician Timofei Neaga. From the early age he was a pianist in his father's orchestra. At the age of 18 he graduated with high distinction the School of Music in Chisinau in the class of piano of the prominent teacher and pianist Juliy (Idely) Guz. By that time he met the Romanian virtuoso Grigoraș Dinicu who invited him in his ensemble as a concert pianist, accompagnateur and arranger. In 1920 he entered the class of piano at the Academy of Music in Bucharest. He didn't finish his course in composition due to his concert tours as a virtuoso pianist who's repertoire included works of Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, R. Strauss, etc. In 1926 he entered again the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine arts in the class of composition of Dimitrie Cuclin. There he was absorbed by the enthusiasm of composing, and, after graduating the Academy (in 1931), he decided to go to Paris where he met again Grigoraș Dinicu. There he was advised to enter Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris in the class of composition of Nadia Boulanger, piano - with Alfred Cortot, and conducting - with Charles Munch.

The Chișinău College of Music is named for him.

References

• Galaicu V., Ghilas.V. Arta Muzicala din Republica Moldova. - 2009
• Adrian Homutescu. "Ştefan Neaga - 100 years from birth - 100 lei 2000 - Republic of Moldova".
• "Compozitori - Neaga Ștefan".