Andra Cârstea is a Romanian pianist based in Spain whose artistic career is defined by a constant search for freedom, spontaneity, and authenticity in performance. Her musical approach emerges from the encounter between the classical tradition and her deep interest in oral folk traditions, particularly the rhythmic, declamatory, and expressive elements of Romanian music. The relationship between speech, rhythm, and gesture lies at the heart of her approach to interpretation, resulting in performances that are intense, personal, and deeply communicative.

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She began studying the piano at the age of seven in Bucharest with Ruxandra Papacostea. She subsequently continued her training with pianists and pedagogues including Mariana Gurkova, Claudio Martínez Mehner, Nino Kereselidze, Chang Rook-Moon, Manuel Ramírez, and Héctor Sánchez, with whom she has worked on a regular basis. She has also furthered her artistic training through masterclasses with internationally renowned pianists such as Eldar Nebolsin, Alexander Kandelaki, Rita Wagner, Tibor Szász, and Josep Colom.

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She made her solo debut with the orchestra of Maestro George Pehlivanian’s Conducting Academy, conducted by Hugo Gómez-Chao, at the Centro Cultural Buenavista in Madrid. Since then, she has developed an active concert career as a soloist, performing at venues and concert halls throughout Spain and Europe, including the Eutherpe Foundation in León and the Eduardo del Pueyo Auditorium in Zaragoza, as well as various cultural venues in Madrid and concert halls in Portugal, Romania, and Greece.

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Her interest in the relationship between language and music occupies a central place in her artistic and research career. She earned a Master’s Degree in Solo Performance at the Centro Superior de Música Katarina Gurska, under the guidance of Mariana Gurkova and Luca Chiantore, with a programme featuring works by Brahms, Bartók, and Enescu. Her research focused on the declamatory aspects of Romanian folk rhythmic systems and their application to the performance of George Enescu’s Piano Sonata, Op. 24 No. 1.

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In 2022, she was awarded a PhD in Artistic Research by the University of Aveiro, Portugal, under the supervision of Luca Chiantore. Her doctoral thesis, Parlando rubato: Performing George Enescu’s Piano Works through the Pronunciation Patterns of the Moldavian “Voice”, explores the relationship between pronunciation, rhythm, and interpretative gesture, proposing an approach to Enescu’s piano music based on the patterns of the Moldavian language and oral tradition. This research has continued to inform her artistic and recording work, including the release of a monographic album devoted to George Enescu’s piano music.

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Alongside her concert and research activities, she has developed an extensive career as a piano teacher and collaborative pianist. She has taught piano at Conservatorio Tempo Musical in Madrid and worked as a repertoire pianist for the flute, trumpet, and saxophone departments at the Conservatorio Superior de Salamanca during the 2025–2026 academic year. Previously, during the 2020–2021 season, she worked as a saxophone repertoire pianist at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de las Illes Balears.

 

Her work as a collaborative pianist also encompasses vocal repertoire. She maintains an ongoing artistic collaboration with tenor Andrés Lara, with whom she performs as a duo and develops a range of joint musical projects.