BIO
“Anita is a storyteller. Will there be any limitations or constraints, she sees possibility and expansion, and throughout her creative process, she is willing to answer the call of her extensive imagination.”
Anita Petruescu is an artist on a mission, aiming to craft a bold declaration through her artistic endeavors. As a Romanian-born, award-winning singer and composer based in the Netherlands, she’s dedicated to musical honesty, dissolving the barriers between musical genres and forging her unique, cohesive artistic identity. She grew up in a musical environment, but it was during teenage years that she made jazz her primary occupation. She graduated from her Bachelor studies at the National University of Music Bucharest in 2019 and completed a Master research paper in the jazz department at Codarts Rotterdam in 2022. She extended her musical horizons under the guidance of well established musicians and educators, such as Tineke Postma, Stefan Lievestro, Bart de Win, Nils van Haften, Marc van Roon, Anne Liis Poll. Her expressive style and masterful vocal technique brought her recognition as one of the most acclaimed jazz singers of her generation, and she performed with top musicians of her native country such as Mircea Tiberian, Sorin Romanescu, Iulian Nicolau and Albert Tajti. With a taste for extensive melodies, traveling fast from high to low registers, she continuously pushes the boundaries of her own instrument, fearlessly venturing into the realm of her vocal sound, that is uniquely sculpted: raw, powerful, yet delicate and evocative. Anita is currently living in Rotterdam, where she is an active musician, performer, band leader and educator. She is set to release her debut album, “All layers beneath the surface” featuring own compositions. Apart from the leading work with her quintet, Anita Petruescu Group, she is involved in multidisciplinarity projects, modern jazz, free improvisation and in collaborations with orchestras, dance, theater.
1st PRIZE
Award Winner
Throughout her time in Romania, she has emerged as a noteworthy jazz vocalist: in 2017 Anita won the prize for the Best Female Vocalist at the International Youth Jazz Competition and Festival Târgu-Mureș and she was only getting started. In the following year, she won the Best Vocal Performance Prize at Johnny Raducanu International Jazz Festival, performing Johnny’s original compositions “Zbor în amurg”, extracted from his 1982 album, “Confessions”. Anita wrote lyrics for the piece in Romanian language.
In 2019, she was the First Prize winner at the New Jazz Players competition during Bucharest Jazz Festival.
Research
Anita invited a whole new level of creativity into her work by developing her Master research thesis and artistic project around a multidisciplinary topic: the blending of modern jazz and contemporary improvised dance, a journey that for her is deeply personal and heartfelt. Her belief in the symbiotic relationship between music and dance, where they complement each other seamlessly, speaks volumes about her artistic vision.
