Robert Lucaciu (1988) is a musician living in Germany.
At the age of 7, Lucacius began his musical education, initially on the cello. He gained his first experiences with improvised music and jazz during his teenage years in the State Youth Jazz Orchestra of Saxony, which led the then 15-year-old to be admitted to the junior class of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. There, he studied jazz music with professors Pepe Berns, Richie Beirach, Werner Neumann, among others, and classical double bass with Thomas Stahr.
After completing his diploma at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig, Robert spent 1.5 years as a student in the composition class of Professor Thomas Zoller at the University of Music Dresden. Workshops and private lessons with the US-American bassist Mark Dresser were particularly formative for Lucaciu.
Lucacius‘ artistic output is extremely diverse. He has worked for various theaters as a composer, stage musician, and actor, as well as a music educator, concert organizer, label owner, and program curator. His musical scope is also eclectic. In addition to contemporary jazz, he also performs classical music from the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as experimental and freely improvised music.
Together with French DJ Kangding Ray and Scottish musician Barry Burns (Mogwai), Lucaciu created the SUMS project, a fusion of electronic and post-rock music, for the Berlin Atonal festival. He also collaborated with guitarist Arne Jansen and drummer Moritz Baumgärtner, establishing a partnership with the Orchestra Baobab from Senegal. In Romania, he had the opportunity to work with respected singer Maria Raducanu and German drummer Michael Griener.
Since 2006, drummer Philipp Scholz and Robert Lucaciu have been closely intertwined in their musical endeavors. They collaborate in various band projects and develop their own independent music. From 2009, the focus of their work has been the trio PLOT with saxophonist Sebastian Wehle, which has released 3 albums. With saxophonist Hayden Chisholm and pianist Jürgen Friedrich, Scholz/Lucaciu formed the band Nautilus.
Even without Scholz, Lucaciu is in demand as a sideman (Arne Jansen Trio, Alex Ruess Manko, Johannes Bigge Trio, Olga Reznichenko, Theresia Philipp, Eva Klesse Quartet, Evi Filippou, Günter Baby Sommer, Billy Elgart, Werner Neumann, Hayden Chisholm, among others).
In 2015, Robert Lucaciu released his first solo program titled „monaxia“. The solo performances with double bass and cello, sometimes with electronic manipulation, serve as both a workshop and nucleus of his artistic approach. In 2021, a second digital release titled „solo live at kulturnhalle leipzig“ was published.
After an artistic hiatus in 2018, Lucaciu introduced new artistic and thematic impulses. Notable among his projects are Fallen Crooner and the duo Filippou/Lucaciu. In the sextet Fallen Crooner, consisting of musicians from Cologne and Berlin, Robert explores masculinity and representations of masculinity, as well as the cultural technique of humor. The duo with vibraphonist and percussionist Evi Filippou is characterized by spontaneity and a shared musical vocabulary of jazz, classical music, and free improvisation.
WDR Jazz Prize winner Theresia Philipp also collaborates with Robert Lucaciu on her feminist project „Aint’ I“. Together with his brothers Antonio and Simon Lucaciu, Robert plays in the new quartet of the GDR drum legend Günter Baby Sommer. Thus, Robert is a sideman in a variety of European band projects.
As an active member of the German jazz scene, Lucaciu’s contributions can be heard on over 20 albums. He was awarded the Leipzig Jazz Young Talent Prize in 2016, and in 2023 he received the Kathrin Prize. These are two of many scholarships and awards in Robert’s vita (Young Munich Jazz Prize, Echo Jazz, scholarship holder of the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, scholarship holder of the Hans & Eugenia Jütting Foundation, …). Concert tours have taken him to over 30 countries and all continents.
Since 2010, Lucaciu has been teaching double bass, cello, and jazz ensemble at the Neue Musik Leipzig music school, which offers a preparatory course for jazz and popular music studies. In October 2018, he took on the teaching assignment for jazz double bass and ensemble playing at the University of Music and Theater Hannover.