About Catalin Lari
Catalin Lari was born in Romania, and started to study music at the age of 6 playing accordion in his town of birth, Nasaud. When he was 10 years old, Catalin moved to a different Romanian town, Cluj-Napoca, to study violin at the Sigismund Toduta School of Music. When Catalin was 14 years old, he started to study the viola at the same school. After graduating high school, he was accepted into the Viola Performance Program at Gheoghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj, Romania. He studied there for 5 years and received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Viola Performance. For the next 2 years he played the viola in the Black Sea Symphony Orchestra in the town of Constanta, Romania. By the time Mr. Catalin Lari left Romania to emigrate to the US in 2003, he also played in different symphonies, festivals and chamber groups such as: Gheorghe Dima Symphonic Orchestra (Romania), Transylvania Philharmonic (Romania), Stefan Ruha Camerata (Romania),International Bach Festival (Germany), Balaton Music Festival (Hungary), Dinu Lipatti Philharmonic (Romania), Bayreuth Music Festival (Germany), Black Sea Philharmonic (Romania), and Victor Papillian Chamber Orchestra with which he participated in two tours in France.
In the United States, Mr. Lari received a Masters in Music from Pittsburg State University and a Certificate of Viola Performance from DePaul University. He taught violin and viola as a Graduate Assistant at the Pittsburg State University, as well as private lessons. In the States, Mr. Lari performed in a variety of music ensembles such as: Pittsburg State Symphony, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra, DePaul Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Civic Symphony Orchestra. After moving to Chicago in 2005, Catalin started to teach private lessons for violin and viola as a self-employed teacher. Along with his beloved wife, Mr. Lari opened a private music studio called Ten Happy Little Fingers in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago, where they have resided since 2015. The Lari family has 2 children who both play and sing music. The family proudly gets involved in musical activities from Church Choir to Romanian folk music. The Lari’s also own a smart cat named Gus that is a music lover as well.
Along the years, after accumulating experience in both teaching and performing, Mr. Lari believes that anyone can be taught to play an instrument as long as there is a desire of learning, and physical ability to hold the instrument of their choice. The merit of the teacher is to help his students discover their musical gifts, and to teach them how to use these talents. In the end, each one of us is unique and special!
Mr. Lari’s main hobbies are hiking in the woods, swimming in clear waters, and driving big cars and buses.