Discover the story of Sergiu CORBU Boldor, a violinist and transdisciplinary artist who transforms music and art into an authentic and inspiring experience.
Sergiu CORBU Boldor graduated from the University of Music in Oradea with specializations in Music Pedagogy and Violin Performance. In addition to the violin, Sergiu CORBU Boldor studied as secondary instruments: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, percussion, mandolin, flute, caval, and jaw harp. Sergiu CORBU Boldor has over 15 years of experience on the big stages of the music industry. He has performed on national and international stages, playing the violin together with and alongside names such as: Phoenix, Celelalte Cuvinte, Partizan, Dirty Shirt, Semnal M, Taxi, Hara, farfarello, Haggard, Guano Apes etc. He was a founding member of the band Azepam from Oradea and violinist of the band Popa Șapcă from Timișoara.
He initiated and coordinated his own musical projects such as: AD HOC, 2 fire 2 paie, Intensitate Epic Sonoră.
Sergiu CORBU Boldor has experience in transdisciplinary education in working with young people: he was a leader in the National Organization of Romanian Scouts and a music teacher in kindergartens and schools in Bucharest. He is currently collaborating as a violinist with the band Phoenix and has been creatively active in the musical project CORBU, which he initiated in 2017.
C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence, to make those who don’t know you yet curious?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: I am a transdisciplinary artist who transforms music into an emotional and esoteric ritual, a sound prayer through which the soul rediscovers and heals itself.
C&B: If we were to look at a narrative thread of your career or business, what were the key moments that defined you?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: Looking at the thread of my career, the moments that defined me were the encounters with remarkable people and the lessons I received from them. The first was my violin teacher, Ștefan Iorga, who made me fall irreversibly in love with music. Then came the period when I was a stage manager at Celelalte Cuvinte, where I learned what it means to have an unshakable musical personality. Later, the years when I played as a violinist in the band Phoenix, at the invitation of Nicu Covaci – a place I had never even dreamed I would reach – taught me to follow my dream at any cost. From Artan (Timpuri Noi, Partizan) I received another precious lesson: the sincerity you can have on stage and the courage to show yourself to the audience in your purest form. However, the most important decision was to start on my own path and perform under my own name – Corbu.
C&B: What were the biggest challenges you faced in developing Ad Hoc?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: Ad Hoc was a project born from student enthusiasm, from the young and explosive energy I had at that time. Moving intuitively, I discovered what teamwork means, how egos manifest, when to give in and how good or bad that can be. I pushed hard for people to continue playing, believing that this was how they needed to be encouraged, but along the way I realized that some of them had other interests and passions outside of music, which made collaboration increasingly difficult to manage. It was a huge challenge: convincing people to follow what I thought was their passion. From this experience I learned one of the greatest lessons: the direction of a group is set by the leader, whether it is built collectively or comes from his individual initiative.
When you follow your passion and give your life to it, the exhaustion of long tours, sleepless nights, thousands of kilometers traveled, endless carrying and setting up of instruments and stages become just details – you live them with joy, without feeling them as obstacles. The real challenges arise when you deal with people’s egos, because those are incomparably harder than any physical effort.
C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: All my life my dreams have come true. I wanted to sing and make a living from it – and it came true. I dreamed of meeting my idols, and life offered me even more: I got to play alongside them. I met important people from whom I learned enormously. At one point I even wanted to test the ‘law of attraction’ and set myself the goal of crossing paths with Roger Waters from Pink Floyd. The meeting came in an unexpected way: after I uploaded to YouTube a concert that included a Pink Floyd piece at the end, the video was blocked due to copyright, but our manager managed to get in touch with Roger Waters, who approved the broadcast. Beyond these spectacular moments, what makes me happiest is that I have everything I need to sing, to travel, and above all, that I am healthy. And my greatest wish is to remain healthy in mind, heart, and body, so that I can serve this art as best and as long as possible. As I like to say: to be an Artist in the Royal Art, to build the Great Work.
C&B: What did you look like at the beginning of your journey and how do you feel you have transformed until now?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: At the beginning of my journey I had a backpack on my back and a violin under my arm and traveled all over the world, from Romania to Europe. The first tour of my project, Ad Hoc, we did with the whole band hitchhiking, with instruments and all. Then came the trains. Today, after all this experience, the essence remains the same: I still travel with my backpack and violin, only now I have the privilege of owning my own van, which I manage to fill by myself with my luggage and instruments – more than at the beginning.
The difference is that then I was driven by the enthusiasm of youth and an unstoppable energy. Now I know I have a mission: to take music into the world for all the souls who can hear it, even for those who don’t realize how much they need art. If at the beginning I had a thick veil over my vision, today I try to do everything, as much as possible, in harmony with the plans of the Great Director. I started, unconsciously, on the road like the Fool in the tarot, I travel like the Hermit, and I want to reach the balance of the World – from unconscious to conscious.
C&B: If we were to meet with your team or collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: I think reactions in a group are generally the usual ones: some are pro, others against; some understand, others don’t; some are loyal, others may betray you – as in any collective.
However, there are reactions that stayed in my mind: “I don’t understand Sergiu, he’s too absurd,” or “Your music won’t reach anyone.” At the same time, I also heard things that brought me great joy: “My God, how much courage you have!”, “I appreciate you enormously,” “For me, you are a model.”
I receive all these reactions and try to treat them without being influenced by them, neither the positive nor the negative ones, so that I can continue my path as close as possible to my spirit, and not to how I am perceived from the outside.
C&B: What is the most important decision you have made that changed your trajectory?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: The most important decision I made was to continue on my own: to close the Ad Hoc chapter and start the Corbu project. This fundamentally changed my way of working. In Ad Hoc, decisions were made collectively – everyone had the right to vote and, even if there was an apparent hierarchy, I could not just do what I wanted, but what the whole group wanted. In the 8 years of existence, we released an album and a few singles.
In the Corbu project, I took full responsibility and decision-making, and by collaborating with people and their opinions, I managed in a few years to release 10 albums, plus an album from the Ad Hoc period. Maybe it would have been easier to learn group management at school, but practical experience shaped me just as well and I am glad about how things turned out. The decision to start on my own path – the Way of the Raven – among contrasts, black and white, good and evil, turning contradictions into unity, achieving the miracle of a single thing.
C&B: What valuable lessons have you learned from the experience of building and managing Ad Hoc?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: I can’t limit myself only to the Ad Hoc experience; it is essential to also include the Corbu stage, in which I am now. The most valuable lesson I have learned is that only through love can we make things work in harmony. Only through friendship can we build something with soul, that resonates within us and becomes nourishment for it. Only by loving each other can we fulfill the Royal Art.
If brotherly love is missing, everything turns into something else, which I no longer resonate with and which I avoid. Some play very actively, have entire tours, and make a lot of money from it, but I consider that there is something much more valuable than money – something that works in our hearts, and for that it is worth all the effort. Money is just a result, a reward for good behavior. If you do good things spiritually, the material reward comes naturally.
C&B: Can you give an example of a successful project that reflects Ad Hoc’s impact?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: The Ad Hoc project was a trailblazer. Of course, we were also inspired by others, but we always tried to be different. It seemed completely ridiculous to me to do something that already exists and, most of the time, is done better by others. That’s how we avoided playing medieval music, because there are bands that do it excellently, and we ended up developing our own style, which we called medieval folk acoustic punk. More technically, I would define Ad Hoc as a Romanian fantasy with medieval influences.
After our debut, I noticed that bands appeared in Romania that looked strikingly similar to what we were doing, especially in the way of playing. It’s interesting to see how other groups using the same instruments created a similar musical approach; I hope they also find their own identity.
On the other hand, in the Corbu project, where I placed immense emphasis on my intimate senses related to sound, my style seems impossible to copy. Technically, someone could imitate certain sound effects or violin playing, but the way I build a show, often in real time, has a unique impact: it inspires people to be who they truly are, or at least to seek that, not to reproduce.
As an example, listen to the album Dezleganie – Ritualul and imagine how you could reproduce that. Or take the album AIN: what impact could it have on someone? And especially, what impact does it have on you?
C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now and what moments of the day bring you the greatest satisfaction?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: One of the most important decisions in my life, which you asked me about earlier, was to move to the countryside, a year before the pandemic. For several years now, my life has been shaped as much as possible, literally and figuratively, by the rhythm of nature.
When I am at home, I spend my time either working around the house – building and setting up a new studio and event space –, or in the garden, taking care of household chores. I don’t go to the gym, but I really enjoy physical effort, especially if it is also useful. I also love handmade art: I create linocut prints, I do photography. Even the constructions for myself become works of art. When you come to my studio, I will show you.
The other half of the day I dedicate to study: reading, playing, or exploring new ideas to develop in music.
In addition to this, there is also the other half of life – the one during concerts –, when the day is divided between driving, unloading and setting up the stage, playing, packing up, and driving back. There are also other very beautiful activities that I will tell you about on another occasion.
C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do and how do you apply them daily?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: There are several values that I pursue and try to apply in my life. Sometimes I succeed better, sometimes less, but the important thing is that from a good man I become even better, through the constant refining of mind, heart, and body.
Tolerance is essential, because in front of the Great Director we are all brothers and sisters, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, politics, sports, or the music we listen to. Another virtue I respect is generosity and passing it on: I have received the gift of music, and that obliges me to give, regardless of the situation, everything I can, unconditionally.
Self-knowledge and personal development are just as important, because I couldn’t pass something on if I didn’t have from what. Sincerity and truth are fundamental: I must be honest with myself and always seek the truth, so that my artistic act is authentic. Otherwise, it turns into something that deceives people and no longer corresponds to the purposes I seek.
C&B: How did the idea of founding Ad Hoc come about and what inspired you to start this project?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: Almost all my career has been intuitive. I have always guided myself by what my heart told me. Whenever my mind intervened, things changed and turned into something else. The same happened at the beginning of Ad Hoc. I simply wanted to play, so I asked an old college friend, David Pusta, if he wanted to start a band. He said “yes.” And, since everything happened Ad Hoc, that’s what we named our new duo.
From the same pure desire to play all my projects started, including Corbu. Probably nothing is accidental: after 17 years, in the most recent Corbu album, AIN, I collaborated again with David Pusta, the one with whom I started. The way I started projects has always been a mix of unconscious and conscious, intuitive and planned, but the center of all remained the simple desire to play.
C&B: What are Ad Hoc’s development plans for the coming years?
Sergiu CORBU Boldor: Ad Hoc has not existed for many years; Corbu appeared precisely to continue the musical expression once Ad Hoc’s activity began to stop. Plans for the future are grand. What I most want is to be able to fully enjoy both live concerts and studio production.
This year I have published several albums online, including the most recent, AIN – a very beautiful album, which I want us to release also in physical format for those who appreciate the art object: CD, cassette, vinyl record, and even an unusual medium, something I have never seen in the music industry, which I will talk about at the right time. Follow our pages, we will post. As an idea, we released the album Dezleganie – Ritualul in bookmark format, like a puzzle.
Here you can listen to all our music:
https://corbuproject.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@proiectulCORBU
Here we connect:
https://linktr.ee/CORBU
Our narrative CV:
https://panacorbului.ro/cv/
Sergiu CORBU Boldor blends art, music, and experimentation in a journey that inspires and opens new cultural horizons. His story proves that passion and courage can turn life into a true work of art.
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