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Dumitru Zamfira
Romanian folk musician Dmitru Zamfira - a performer on bagpipes, blockflute, drâmbă, flute, kaval, ocarina and tilinka, was born in Novaci, Gorj County, Oltenia on 18 May 1940 into a family of folk musicians. He began to play from the age of four. He studied economics and commerce in Craiova, but continued to learn to play traditional Romanian instruments from musicians in his village.
He mastered more than fifteen traditional wind instruments and performed various different kinds of Romanian folk music, with recitals often ending with difficult pieces such as Grigoraș Dinicu's Hora staccato.
He became an ambassador for Romanian folk music, performing in Africa, Asia, North America, South America and across Europe, representing Romanian folk music at international festivals in Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Italy and Serbia, mentoring young performers and appearing as jury president and jury member at various festivals in Romania, including those at Caracal, Corabia and Slatina.
Dumitru Zamfira (1940-2025)
performing on TVR - Romanian TV - in 2009
He made many recordings, mostly for the Romanian label Electrecord, and appeared regularly on Romanian TV.
Dumitru Zamfira died on 21 April 2025, aged eighty-four.