Who am I?
Iulia Toma is a professional pianist and a doctor (residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation) at the ”Municipal Hospital” (Timișoara, Romania) as well as a university lecturer at the ”Faculty of Music and Theatre”, ”West University of Timișoara” (Timișoara, Romania), where she teaches: violin accompaniment, piano, study of piano accompaniment and professional pathology in instrumental musicians (a premiere in a university in Romania).
Iulia is thoroughly prepared for activity in the respective fields of both music and medicine, having studied and worked with reputed professors in many European centers.
She also plays in concerts, in order to share the joy of music, a therapy per se. As a concert pianist she was awarded prizes, such as first runner up in the international competition ”Music competition” (Malta, online, 2020), the same as in international competition ”Salzburg' Grand Prize Virtuoso” (Salzburg, online, 2020).
In early 2022 she graduated summa cum laude her PhD in music with the thesis ”Stylistic-interpretative and physiopathological aspects in the solo piano repertoire: Sonata k. 1 by D. Scarlatti, Sonata no. 60 by J. Haydn, Sonata no. 2 by Fr. Chopin and Sonata no. 7 by S. Prokofiev”.
In early childhood she was taught by her grandmother and her mother, both musicians, to later develop her talent with piano teachers such as Molnar Adela, Radu Rotaru, Sorin Dogariu, Daniel Goiți and Adriana Bera. She has also studied in various courses of great pianists such as Avedis Kouyoumdijian, Boris Berman, Josu Solaun, Stefan Vladar and Cristina Marton Argerich. Various Erasmus grants were as many opportunities for her to study in reputed universities, the latest being in May, 2022, at the ”Norway Academy of Music”, in Oslo. Iulia Toma played on various national and international stages with orchestras and in chamber music.
Thoroughly schooled for both music and medicine, Iulia found out a happy marriage thereof in the area of music-medicine interdisciplinary field of professional pathology in musicians. Such activity shaped up in projects run during her PhD study, the most recent being: poster and piano micro recital in the international symposium ”Performing Arts Medicine Association" / "PAMA” (USA, online, 2021), interdisciplinary presentations in various conference sessions, such as the ”World Piano Conference” (Novisad, Serbia, online, 2020); the festival conference ”Doctors in Performance” (Estonia, online, 2021) as she also worked with the youth committee of the association ”PAMA” (the Social Media department). Among the latest articles that she wrote on the topic: ”The Impact of Piano Styles on Muscle Force in Pianist Students", co-authored by Amăricăi Elena, Mihai Popean and Roxana Onofrei, published in the journal ”Symmetry”.
Since 2018, Iulia works as the assistant editor of the Musiq magazine and as an active staff at the "Center for Music & Transdisciplinary Research", in Timișoara.
Iulia Toma also contributes in university pedagogic sectors, by post-university coaching courses such as ”Problem-based learning”, in Maastricht, online, 2021. She won herself a grant under the ”UVT teaching & learning brand” project, initiated by ”West University of Timișoara” in 2020 and she got precious acknowledgement for her work in music pedagogy in 3rd international competition ”Banatus Temesiensis” final with ”Diploma de excelență pentru contribuția adusă la dezvoltarea învățământului muzical”.
Iulia Toma is also acknowledged for her love to share her knowledge of classical music, as such, in 2021, recording public presentations thereof, for Hope Channel Romania (Speranța tv). She believes it is her duty to share her God-given multiple talents as wide as possible, thus bringing her share of light to the world.
