Octavian Alin Lup began his musical activity at the age of 7; he studied cello at the Music Highschool Sigismund Toduță from Cluj- Napoca first under the guidance of professor Râpă Gabriel and later with professor Todor Gabriela.
In 2010 he graduated from the National University of Music in Bucharest in the class of maestro Marin Cazacu and continued his studies at the Conservatoire national superieur de musique et de danse in Paris, where he was mentored by the famous cellists Roland Pidoux and Xavier Phillips. At the present he is a PhD student and an associate professor at the National University of Music in Bucharest. In 2012, Octavian embraced musical improvisation and represented the National University of Music of Bucharest in Hague, during an intensive 2 weeks training with the greatest experts in musical improvisation in the world. In 2012 and 2016 he was selected to participate as active member in the Kronberg Academy cello masterclass under the guidance of Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman.
He is a member of the cello quartet Cellisimo alongside the maestros: Marin Cazacu, Alexandra Guțiu and Răzvan Suma. He is also the principal cello player of the Royal Camerata orchestra and a member of the Romanian Youth Orchestra.
Recitals and concerts in Romania: Bucharest, Cluj, Timișoara, Târgu Mureș, Tulcea, Botoșani, Arad, Constanța, Brașov, Iași, Sibiu, Sinaia etc and in countries such as: Hungary, Spain, Morocco, Israel, Switzerland, Austria, France, Holland, Germany and Portugal.
He has sustained concerts as a soloist with philharmonics from Cluj, Arad, Botoșani, Iași, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Braşov, the Bucharest Radio Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Camerata. Simultaneously with his soloist and orchestra activities he develops an important pedagogic career both at the National University of Music of Bucharest and at the National Art College Dinu Lipatti. During his activity he has had the opportunity of performing under the baton of famous composers such as Kristian Jarvi, Cristian Mandeal, Lawrence Foster, Horia Andreescu, Christian Badea, Tiberiu Soare, and has collaborated with soloists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Sarah Chang, David Garret, Alexandru Tomescu, Marin Cazacu.
Among the prestigious musicians who have guided him one may mention: Marin Cazacu, Roland Pidoux, Xavier Phillips, Antoine Lederlin, Erkki Lahesmaa, Lazlo Fenyo, David Pia, Alvaro Huertas, Vladimir Mendhelsson, Krysztof Chorzelski, Axel Schacher, Frans Helmerson.
Among his numerous national and international prizes we may recall:
• First Prize and Grand Prize at all the national Olympics in which he participated in 2001-2007
• The winner of the national selection for the Eurovision Young Musicians, for the final in Luzern, Switzerland
• Winner of the grand prize at the international competition George Georgescu Tulcea
• Winner of the grand prize at the national competition W.A.Mozart Târgoviște
• Second prize winner at the international competition David Popper Hungary
• Grand prize winner at the national competition Paul Constantinescu Bucharest
• Grand prize winner at the national competition Mihail Jora Bucharest
• Semifinalist at the George Enescu competition 2014 and 2016.
