Pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa dies at 33

BERLIN -- Internationally renowned Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa has been found dead in her apartment in the Austrian capital. She was 33.

The musician's agent, Andreea Butucariu, said in a statement from Berlin Friday that Ursuleasa had died on Thursday from the effects of a cerebral hemorrhage and asked for her family's privacy to be respected. Police in Vienna confirmed the cause of death.

Butucariu told Romanian media that Ursuleasa had recently cancelled two concerts in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on unspecified health grounds.

Ursuleasa began playing the piano at 5 years old under the guidance of her Gypsy jazz musician father in then communist Romania. She obtained a grant to study in Vienna at 12, a year after communism collapsed.

She went on to play at Carnegie Hall, with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, with Orchestre National de France and also with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

"Mihaela was a huge pianistic talent with great musical instincts," said Bill Capone, managing director of Arts Management Group, who represented her. "Her untimely passing is very tragic."

Ursuleasa is survived by a 5-year-old daughter. In a statement on the pianist's website, Butucariu asked that promoters "that had invited Mihaela for the next months" contribute toward an account for her daughter. -- AP