Ileana Cotrubas was born in Galati, Romania, with a chance to be part of a family for whom music was more than a hobby. Her father, Vasile Cotrubas was tenor in an amateur choir and held her.
The musical career began at the age of just nine years, when Ileana became a member of the Children's Choir of the National Radio company Romania. Just two years later became one of the most popular voices, she’ll sing solo.
In 1952 moved to Bucharest, to join the Special School of Music, dedicated to only the very talented young performers. There was however no problem for Ileana Cotrubas, who had a great debut in 1964 on stage opera in Bucharest, Yniold role in Debussy's opera Pelleas et Melisande.
Subsequently had to give life to other roles at least as successful: Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera, Gilda in Rigoletto. Ileana Cotrubas appeared on the European scene in various roles. In 1965 Ileana Cotrubas won an important contest in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. A year later, won another competition in Munich. These awards were only modest rewards for success in the soprano role of Pamina in Brusells, which brought a long string of appearances at the Opera Vienna State Opera in Hamburg, the Berlin Opera and the Salzburg Festival, culminating in the signing of a contract with the Frankfurt Opera.
Ileana Cotrubas retired in 1990 but continued to teach, love for music was too big to be simply forgotten. One of her students was Angela Gheorghiu.
