Cellier produced Zamfir's earliest recordings in 1970-1971, and helped promote him around Europe, which led to several releases on the Philips label. In the meantime, Zamfir also took over conductorship of the Romanian folk ensemble Ciocirlia, and in 1970 formed his own ensemble. Cellier, who also played the organ, invited Zamfir to Switzerland in 1969, and the two began performing duo concerts together. While a student in the '60s, he toured and made some recordings in tandem with Luca those recordings were discovered by Swiss musicologist Marcel Cellier, who broadcast a radio show devoted to Eastern European folk music. He went on to study at Conservatory of Bucharest, where he learned music theory, piano, and conducting. He immediately displayed a gift for the nearly forgotten instrument, quickly learning to bend pitches and improvise (skills that were rarely associated with it). At 14, his father enrolled him at the Bucharest Academy of Music, where he switched to the pan flute under the influence of instructor Fanica Luca. Interested in music from a young age, he learned to play gypsy songs on the accordion while tending his family's goat pasture. Gheorghe Zamfir was born in Gaiesti, Romania, on April 6, 1941. At first focusing on Romanian folk melodies, classical material, and original compositions, Zamfir's popularity in Europe and America led him to cover pop songs, soundtrack themes, and the like, all supported by soft, lush orchestral arrangements. It produces an ethereal, haunting sound, and since its construction makes the execution of up-tempo passages nearly impossible, it's ideal for the sort of slow, tranquil mood music that constituted Zamfir's stock in trade. Made of bamboo, reeds, or wood, the pan flute (also known as the pan pipes or the nai) consists of a series of tubes, each of which sounds one individual note, and are fastened together side by side. Thanks to countless TV ads hawking collections of his music, Zamfir is almost universally recognized as the "Master of the Pan Flute." While that title may be cause for smirking in some quarters - whether because of its overexposure or a general distaste for easy listening music - it's true that Gheorghe Zamfir was single-handedly responsible for popularizing an ancient, traditional Eastern European instrument that was in danger of dying out for lack of interest.
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