Born in 1863, distinguished composer and conductor Ion Vidu was an important figure in Lugoj cultural and musical life, teaching there after studies at the Conservatories in Arad, Caransebeș and Iași under celebrated Gavriil Musicescu and working as President of Romanian Banat Choral and Military Bands Association.
The house he lived in, at no. 36 on what is today Ion Vidu Street, is on the list of historical monuments (no. 340, code number TM-IV-m-B-06338). The memorial plaque on the façade of this architecturally simple, but highly significant building cultural-wise reads: “In this house great Ion Vidu, the “sweet singer of Banat”, lived, worked and created, between 1867 and 1931 and in troubled times, truly immortal pieces. As a token of admiration, this plaque is put up by the members of the Romanian Reading Club”.
The building was donated by Ion Vidu’s great-grandson Robert Benkoczi to the Lugoj City Hall to become a cultural, educative destination under the name of Ion Vidu House of Music.
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