About
2015
Graduated from George Enescu National University of Arts
2017
Founded DAC Music Performance in Oslo
2020
Co-Founded Classix
2021
Graduated from Norwegian Academy of Music
2023
Named Honorary Counselor of the Romanian Ministry of Culture
2025
Fulbright Scholar at The New School in New York City
Dragos Andrei Cantea is a Romanian concert pianist, cultural entrepreneur, and since 2024 Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of Romania to Norway. He is the founder of DAC Music Performance in Oslo since 2017, and serves as Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Classix Festival since 2020.
In 2025 he joined The New School (Mannes College of Performing Arts) in New York City as a Fulbright Scholar, consolidating his focus on transatlantic cultural endeavours.
As a performer, Dragos maintains an active international career especially in Europe and North America. He has appeared as soloist with major Romanian orchestras and UK ensembles. His soloist engagements led to appearances with conductors such as Pawel Kapuła, Ovidiu Balan, Fergus MacAlpine, Theo Wolters, Stefan Geiger, Omar El Jamali or Cristian Mandeal. Chamber music partners in various festivals included violonists Hyeyoon Park, Sarah Nemtanu and Sini Simonen or cellists Benedict Kloeckner and Wen-Sinn Yang, amongst others.
In 2024 he published the volume The Complete Piano Works of Leoš Janácek. Transcendence through Programmatism and since 2023 he is recognized as Honorary Counsellor for the Romanian Ministry of Culture. His academic path culminated as an alumnus of the Norwegian Academy of Music at the classes of Håvard Gimse and Kathryn Stott with a thesis on Nationalism in Music – an Artistic-Diplomatic Tool for Mutual Understanding of Common Values.
Prior to that, he is a triple graduate of the George Enescu National University of Arts in Iasi at the Bachelor, Master’s and Doctoral levels, studying with Ioana Stanescu for 18 years, between 1999 – 2017. This partnership allowed Dragos to achieve numerous accolades, including national awards and performing with leading ensembles across Romania. His PhD research was supervised by VOCES Quartet cellist, maestro Dan Prelipcean.
Dragos Cantea is the recipient of several scholarships, including Roche Continents 2018, Act in Art 2019 and the Rising Leaders programme of the US Embassy in Norway.
As of 2019, he has been a guest lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Vaasa (Finland).
As a cultural entrepreneur, Dragos has coordinated and partnered in large-scale projects supported by the Norwegian Arts Council, Creative Europe, EEA/Norway Grants, and private stakeholders such as Telenor, Nordea or DNB Sparebankstiftelsen.
Today, Dragos continues to forge cultural bridges between Romania, Norway, and the wider world, equally dedicated to his role as a performer, researcher, and cultural diplomat. His work consistently explores the intersection of music, dialogue, and humanist values.