Eugen Doga

Eugen Doga (born 1 March 1937) is a Moldovan composer.

He has made significant contributions to various forms of music during his career.

Doga was born on 1 March 1937 in the village of Mocra in the Rîbniţa District (then in Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic), in a Romanian family.

The childhood of the composer coincided with a period of historical cataclysms – the war, repressions, hunger, poverty, exhausting hard work (the composer's memories of his childhood ).

After finishing seven years at school, Eugen Doga with his friends went to Chișinău (barefoot and without money, as he recalled later ) to enroll in the School of Music of which he learned about when listening to a homemade radio.

He was admitted to the music school, despite having no prior training.

Thanks to his natural talent and hard work, Eugen Doga managed to quickly catch up, mastered musical notation and learned to play cello.

He still has the fondest memories of his cello teacher Pablo Giovanni Baccini, who with his personal example greatly influenced the future destiny of the composer.

"My second teacher, an old man by the name of Pavel Ivanovich Bachinin, became my salvation. I always think of him with joy. He scheduled my first lesson at 6 o'clock in the morning. I came in – he was already sitting there playing the piano. I liked him a lot – intelligent, very musical, and tactful. He worked with me every morning from 6:00 to 8:30, before lectures, for two and a half years. He taught me not only to play the cello, but simply to be a decent human being. He never said the word 'must', never used the imperative mood. However, through his own example, his attitude, he had taught me a lot," - says Eugen Doga.

In 1951–1955 he studied at the Music School in Chișinău, specializing in cello, and then at the Conservatory where one of his classmates was a future opera star Maria Bieșu.

She made her debut with his song "White flower garden" (Floare de dalbă liadă) on the Moldovan television.

Paralysis of the left hand prevented a career of a musician – this was due to the fact that he used to live in a basement.

Doga studied for another 5 years at the Art Institute "Gavriil Musicescu", in the class of Professor S. Lobel specializing in composition.

1 January 1957 for the first time in his work, "New Year song" (Cântec de anul nou) was performed on the Moldovan radio children's choir and orchestra under the baton Shiko Aranova.

After graduating from the Conservatory in Chişinău, he performed as cellist in the Orchestra of the State Committee of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic for television and radio (1957–1962), taught at the Music College "Stefan Neaga" from Chişinău (1962–1967), and worked from 1967 to 1972 at the repertory-editorial Board of the Ministry of Culture of Moldova.

In 1963, he wrote his first string quartet.

He made his compositional debut in 1963, with a string quartet, later becoming the author of many musical compositions, theater scores and film soundtracks.

Since 1972 with his concerts he has traveled all over the territory of the former Soviet Union, also some foreign countries.

"The image of the person is defined by his deeds that ultimately benefit people and society. And the concerts that I give in Chișinău, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kursk or Bucharest, are aimed at precisely this idea of bringing people together, preserving the ideals that make people kinder, more tolerant, that make flowers bloom, and the sun shine brighter,"- says Eugen Doga.

Eugen Doga's concerts took place in the biggest concert halls.

They "gathered huge audiences", and they still do so today.

"...There were so many offenses because of Eugen Doga's concerts; people just did not want to talk to me. They told me: "I have been asking you for three years, and you can't arrange Eugen Doga's concert." And I really couldn't, because he was very busy. In Leningrad there was a concert orchestra conducted by Anatoly Badhen, a wonderful orchestra, unequaled in the Soviet Union, which played high-quality music. This orchestra for many years gave a lot of concerts with Eugen Doga's music everywhere, throughout the Soviet Union" – Mikhail Murzak.

Philharmonic Director of Chișinău (1972–1988 years).

His music was performed by the Choir of TV and radio Moldova, the Russian state Symphony orchestra of cinematography, Academic Choir "Doina", The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow chamber orchestra "The seasons", Leningrad Concert Orchestra, Academic Grand choir "Masters of choral singing", Orchestra of the Moldavian Philharmonic "Sergei Lonkevich", Moscow city Symphony orchestra "Russian Philharmonic", The national Symphony orchestra of the public company "Teleradio-Moldova", the Presidential orchestra of the Republic of Moldova, Children's choir "Liya Ciocarlia", Large children's choir of the USSR Gosteleradio, Orchestra of the Romanian National Opera Iasi and other groups.

Equally important for Eugen Doga during his whole life was his public work.

A creator of three ballets "Luceafărul", "Venancia", "Queen Margot", the opera "Dialogues of Love", more than 100 instrumental and choral works – symphonies, 6 quartets, "Requiem", church music, and other, plus music for 13 plays, radio shows, more than 200 movies, more than 260 songs and romances, more than 70 waltzes; he is also the author of works for children, the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in 1980 in Moscow.

In 1987–1991 he was a member of the Committee on Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR.

For two convocations he was in the Supreme Soviet of Moldavia, for two more – in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

From 1997 to 2002 he has worked with preschool children in a house where he lives.

Member of the International Academy of the Arts, Member of the academy of film art "NIKA", Full member of the Russian Academy of science and culture; Member of the International Academy of Arts and culture.

Throughout the creative activities of Eugen Doga conducts awareness-raising concerts, charity concerts, lectures to students.

He is constantly in numerous juries of various music and cinematic competitions and festivals across Russia and abroad: Festival "Spirit of fire", Kremlin Cadet ball, Berdyanskiy International Film Festival, Education International Festival in Iasi (Festivalului Internaţional al Educaţiei), International Film Forum "Gold Knight", The all-Russian children's charity ball books heroes" and so on.

Doga declared that he supports Unification of Moldova and Romania.

He is an Orthodox Christian, belonging to the Metropolis of Bessarabia.

Doga opposed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and called it a war, not a "special military operation".

He participated in the European Moldova National Assembly on 21 May 2023.

As of 2001 he is the permanent chairman of the jury of the All-Russian Movement "Gifted Children of Russia", chairman of the jury of the contest of family Theatre.

In Moldova, the years 2007 and 2017 (when the composer celebrated his 70th and 80th birthdays, respectively) were declared the Year of Eugen Doga.

Chișinău's main pedestrianised thoroughfare has been named Eugen Doga Street in his honour.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) in recognition of his outstanding achievements in music awarded him with a special certificate in 2007.