| Pascal Bentoiu was born in Bucharest on 22 April 1927. His father, a well-known lawyer, dreamed that his son studied law, and so he did. Nevertheless, passionate about music, he privately studied violin with Vasile Filip, piano with Teophil Demetriescu, harmony, counterpoint and composition with famous Romanian composer Mihail Jora, whose favourite disciple he became. His impressive body of work comprises 8 Symphonies, 4 Symphonic poems, 4 Concertos for piano, violin and cello, 3 operas, 6 String quartets, 2 sonatas, 30 songs, 21 special compositions for theatre and 6 books, among which the seminal "Masterworks of George Enescu". Pascal Bentoiu spent a decade working on the completion of George Enescu's 4th and 5th Symphonies, the Symphonic Poem "Isis" and the "Clément Marot" song cycle. He was married to Swiss-Romanian writer Annie Bentoiu and was the father of Ioana Bentoiu, soprano and canto professor in Switzerland. His interests were far more extended than those in the music field. He read immensely, especially literature, philosophy and history and fluently spoke six languages (including Latin). He loved football, was a great jazz fan and held an enormous sense of humour, which greatly contributed to help him and his family during some sombre years. (Ioana Bentoiu) | 
