Simona Strungaru is a pianist, orchestra conductor, orchestrator, and composer with an extensive national and international career.
She has serves as the permanent conductor of the Big Band Radio România & Bucharest Jazz Orchestra.
In 2010, she conducted the world premiere of S.A.L.O. (Standard American Lexicographical Opera)Â by Michael Karr at the Grand Theater Groningen in the Netherlands.
Under her baton, some of the most important ensembles and choirs in Romania have performed. In 2021, she was invited to compose and orchestrate for the Balkan Youth Jazz Orchestra in Montenegro.
Since 2009, she has conducted various big bands, including the Modern Balkan Jazz Orchestra at Blue Note Hall in Amsterdam. She has led the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra at the Bucharest Jazz Festival, accompanying renowned trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, as well as in special productions such as the double tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Maria Tănase, featuring Irina Sârbu as the soloist, and in Urban Sky Swing at the National Theatre Bucharest.
Her collaborations include artists such as Irina Sârbu, Adrian Nour, Nae Caranfil, Berti Barbera, the vocal group Blue Noise, Alice Francis, and the dance company Jazz Roots Bucharest.
Simona Strungaru has composed music for numerous silent films, presenting cine-concerts at La Rochelle Cinema Festival, TIFF, Animest International Festival, German Film Festival, and the GOPO Awards Gala.
She is the permanent conductor of the contemporary music ensemble SonoMania, with which she has performed at festivals such as International Week of New Music, Innersound, Meridian Festival, Cluj Modern Festival, Romanian Music Festival in Iași, and Bucharest Gaming Week. With SonoMania, she developed contemporary opera projects such as Fidelio ești tu (2020) and Opera in Your Pocket (2022). She also composed the chamber opera E vina Ta, based on a libretto by Mara Căruțașu, which premiered at the Odeon Theatre in September 2022, as part of Opera in Your Pocket, directed by Elena Morar.
In 2017, she launched DIOSA Symphonic EDM, composing the symphonic suite Time Rage, blending classical music elements (compositional techniques, orchestration) with electronic music.
In 2015, she founded the orchestra and concept Simona Strungaru Symphonics, debuting at Bucharest’s White Night with the premiere performance of her symphonic suite Gaston for orchestra and live visuals. Simona Strungaru Symphonics has also collaborated with artists in the commercial music scene.