Artistic director and conductor - Ilona Stepan, Artist of the People
Ilona Stepan was born in 1964. She studied at the Special Music School „Eugen Coca”, then at the „G. Musicescu” Music Academy in Chisinau, in the Choral Conducting specialty, graduating with high merits. She later completed her conducting skills (post-graduate studies) at the Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
In the years 1987-1990, she was the leader of the children's ensemble „Speranța”, participating in various concerts and festivals and gaining numerous diplomas and mentions. Since 1991 she has been working at the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts in the conducting department, and since 1997 she has been the director of the department as well as the artistic director of the choir. In 1999 she founded and since then she is coordinating the band "UniVox" (Vocal Band), being also the leader of this choral formation, which participated in various festivals jazz, both national and international. Since March 2002 Ilona Stepan has become the conductor of the Union Fenosa Choir (currently the National Chamber Choir).
She is constantly invited to major international competitions as a member of the jury. Ilona Stepan received the Soros Foundation's scholarship in 2000. She was awarded at several international competitions and festivals, and at two of them she was awarded the special prize for the best conductor: The International Choral Music Competition „Europe it's a Songs”, Barcelona, Spain 2002; The International Coral Interpretation of Romance Music, Vlajovo-Brezy, Czech Republic, 2003. Ilona Stepan shows herself as a professional conductor with high artistic and organizational skills.
She is currently having a massive and successful artistic activity, evaluating in numerous concerts, competitions, international choral performing festivals and owning a rich repertoire of choral music. From February 2013, Ilona Stepan is the artistic director and chief conductor of the Doina Coral Academic Chapel.
Ilona Stepan became the Artistic Director and first conductor of the Academic Choral Chapel „Doina” in 2013. In 2020, by presidential decree, she was awarded the highest honorary title of the Republic of Moldova in the field of culture – Artist of the People. In 2021 the collective was awarded the „Gavriil Musicescu” music prize for the year of 2020.