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From Bucharest to BSO
Symphony seat is dream job for Romanian-born cellist

By Hope Green

When Mihail Jojatu auditioned for the Boston Symphony Orchestra this past fall, he tried not to get his hopes up too high. More than 200 of the world's most talented cellists had applied for just one seat, and the orchestra called only 24 of them to audition in person. Four rounds of competition whittled that number to five, three, and finally, two.

	Mihail Jojatu (CFA'03) plays for Jules Eskin, a CFA teaching associate and principal cellist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in a lesson at Eskin's home. Photo by Fred Sway

Upon learning that he'd made the last cut, Jojatu (CFA'03) was incredulous, then ecstatic.

"I didn't believe it. I couldn't wait to find a pay phone to call my family," says the 25-year-old Romanian, an intense, polite young man who is pursuing a performance diploma in the College of Fine Arts (the new name of the School for the Arts). He debuts in the BSO string section this month. "To be part of the Boston Symphony has been a dream for me ever since I came to this country."

The achievement is a sweet reward not only for Jojatu and his family but also for his mentors: Jules Eskin, a CFA teaching associate and principal cellist with the BSO, and conductor and former BSO cellist Ronald Feldman (CFA'70), with whom Jojatu studied as an undergraduate at the Boston Conservatory.

"He has a highly developed technique, a wonderful sound production, and a lovely tone, which is an integral part of one's personality and something that really can't be taught," Eskin says. "His kind of playing is very elegant and character-filled."

Eskin helped Jojatu prepare for the BSO auditions, for which Jojatu had to rehearse 3 solo pieces and passages from 10 symphonies. The competition was conducted blind -- a screen obscured the contestants from a panel of orchestra members, who served as the judges -- except for the final round, which pitted Jojatu against one other person.

Feldman recently left the BSO after 34 years to accept a position at Williams College, where he will be an artist in residence in charge of ensembles. He had hoped that Jojatu would be the one to replace him, and now he has his wish.

Ronald Feldman (CFA'70) Photo by Betsy Bassett

"I'm very proud of him," Feldman says. "It's a great tribute to his work ethic and his level of concentration, determination, and talent that he has gotten into the Boston Symphony."

Jojatu grew up in Bucharest, where his mother is a secretary and his father is a driver for the German ambassador to Romania. His parents started taking him to orchestra concerts when he was small, initially bringing along toys to keep him occupied. Soon they left the playthings at home: the music had him spellbound. He took up the piano at age four, the violin at age five, and the cello at nine; later he attended the prestigious George Enescu High School of Music and the Bucharest Academy of Music. In 1996 he joined his older brother, bassoonist and current CFA doctoral student Adrian Jojatu (CFA'93), in Boston.

Adrian had met Feldman by chance while working part-time in a West Newton bicycle store. Feldman's son recognized a recording of a Beethoven symphony playing in the shop, and the three struck up a conversation. A friendship developed, and Adrian later introduced Mihail to Feldman.
"I met him at Symphony Hall, and I listened to him play," Feldman recalls. "He has what is an intangible quality in any musician, and that is the ability to make a musical statement. He has a real passion for music, and even though there were things that needed work, I could tell he had a real musical soul and was worth taking a chance on."

Feldman encouraged the Boston Conservatory to grant his pupil a full scholarship. The two kept in touch after Jojatu graduated.
"Beyond his talent as a cellist, Mihail has a talent as a person," Feldman says. "He is absolutely honest and kind, and very respectful. You just enjoy being with him -- he's a bright light."

Jojatu met Eskin a few years ago at the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO's summer home in Lenox, Mass. A mutual friend, Ethan Sloane, a clarinetist and a professor at CFA, suggested he hear Mihail play, and Eskin was impressed. He agreed to give him private lessons in his Brookline home, although he had not taught regularly for many years.

Now attending CFA's school of music under a full scholarship, Jojatu is Eskin's only student. "Professor Eskin has changed my playing in just three months," he says. "He has given me a lot of confidence."
Pablo Casals, whom some consider the finest cellist of the 20th century, and who died three years before Jojatu was born, is one of his heroes. Eskin took master classes with Casals and audited some of his courses, and Jojatu hears that influence when Eskin performs. "His playing is extremely natural, and that's what I look for myself," he says. "It's a pure sound, not too complicated."

Jojatu spent the past two years freelancing, both as a member of the Triptych String Trio, which is about to release a CD, and in various orchestras around New England. Until the BSO hired him, he was assistant principal cellist of the Rhode Island Philharmonic.

He's grateful for the CFA scholarship, which allows him to concentrate on practicing instead of gigging to pay rent. "I was always rushing from one concert to another, and my life was very busy playing, which is great, but I couldn't focus that much," he says. "Now I can sit down and practice all the time."

His tenacity will serve him well. For the BSO he has to learn a large repertoire, rehearse with the orchestra daily, and perform three concerts a week. But Feldman, who was 19 and an CFA sophomore when he joined the BSO in 1967, notes that this schedule still allows time for other types of work in the musical community.

"Playing orchestral music is exciting," he says, "but you can't grow as a musician playing only in the orchestra. You need to play chamber music, recitals, and solos, and you need to constantly push yourself. Mihail will have numerous opportunities, because he's now the young star in the cello section."

11 January 2002
Boston University
Office of University Relations