Sabin Păutza is a resonant name in contemporary Romanian music, as well as a composer and conductor of international renown. In both roles he has performed on the most prestigious concert stages in the world - from Carnegie Hall in New York to Santa Cecilia in Rome, from Chopin in Warsaw to the Sydney Philharmonic. An all-round artist, Păutza has distinguished himself not only as an innovative composer and outstanding conductor, but also as a dedicated university professor. His outstanding talent and contribution to the world of music was recognized in 1995 when he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Institute of Applied Research in London. Among his teachers at the Bucharest Conservatory was Marin Constantin, with whom he enjoyed a lasting and consistent relationship of collaboration and friendship.

How did you meet Marin Constantin?

More than 60 years ago we were lucky to have some extraordinary teachers at the Conservatory. At that time it was called Conservatory "Ciprian Porumbescu" Bucharest. I would mention only a few of our great teachers: Florica Musicescu, Mihail Jora, Dumitru Botez and Victor Giuleanu were in turn rectors, Tudor Ciortea, Marțian Negrea - who came from Cluj and with whom I studied composition. They were great teachers, but none of them was comparable to what Maestro Marin Constantin meant to us, because he was more than a teacher, more than a musician. He was able to bring out the best in you without you knowing, without you realizing it. It was the rehearsals at the Madrigal where he turned into a magician, no longer a musician or a conductor or a teacher.

So, did you catch the moment the Madrigal Choir was founded?

In 1963 I was 20 years old. That was when the Madrigal choir was founded and I was there, but he wouldn't let me sing in the choir, as I had sung with him until then, because I didn't have the voice that the older and more experienced male madrigals had. But he took me next to him and from that age I was a sort of assistant to him, only that Maestro Achim Stoia, who was the rector of the Conservatory of Iași and on the assignment committee, came, knowing me quite well. He came out of the committee telling me that he had a post, but not as an assistant, but as a professor at the newly re-established Conservatory in Iași. I simply couldn't resist this temptation, because I was becoming a teacher in Iași at the age of 22, I was nobody's assistant. I was teaching, I had to write my harmony course. I was teaching, I was also doing courses and seminars.

What was Marin Constantin's reaction?

He didn't resent me, on the contrary, I remained a collaborator. When he left for a week or two, he invited me to take his place at the Madrigal, although he had two very good assistants, Fănică Pruteanu and Veronica Leca Bojescu. She worked with the girls, Fănică Pruteanu with the men. However, he asked me to take his place, and once he asked me to bring a paper to work on while he was away. It was "Ofranda copiilor lumii" ("The Offering of the World's Children"), which won the highest prize in Romania, the Academy's George Enescu Prize, and which has since become a work sung for decades by the Madrigal choir. Moreover, in 2013, when it was 50 years since the Madrigal choir was founded, he was no longer there and then I was invited together with Veronica Bojescu to do the Madrigal anniversary concert.

What do you feel you owe to Marin Constantin?

I have said it many times, I will never be able to thank him for what he did for me. He was more than a teacher or a conductor. He was like a father, he guided my path to what I did afterwards and I owe everything I have done to him. It gives me great pleasure to be able to say these things to you now, as we celebrate an important anniversary.