Born in 1927, in Moreni, Romania, Stefan Niculescu studied with Mihail Jora, Marian Negrea and Muza Ghermani-Ciomac at the Royal Music Academy, Bucharest (1941-1946), and Mihail Andricu at the National University of Music (1951-1957). Between the two courses in music Niculescu became a qualified engineer. He has participated in numerous workshops, particularly at Darmstadt. Niculescu is currently on the academic staff at the National University of Music in Bucharest lecturing in composition and musical analysis. He has won many composition prizes including two from the Romanian Academy (1962 and 1972) and his music has been performed throughout Europe, and in Korea, Israel and Australia.