Filotheu Monahul: According to his direct disciples, Nektarios was born in the city of Husi, Moldavia / Moldovlahia / Bogdania around 1804. His parents send him to learn music to a Greek bishop named Gregorios, retreated in Moldova, after he completed his regular school with the same teacher. He entered Neamt Monastery and became student of Dorothei the Hieromonk, Protopsaltis of that time in Neamt. Dorothei was the student of Visarion, who was still alive when Nectarie was tonsured as a monk. The oldest manuscript of Nectarie was written in Jerusalem, in 1836. One biography claims that when he returned from Jerusalem was tonsured in Neamt. We don't know that; what we know is he returned to Neamt, then moved to Valachian monasteries of Ciolanu and Caldarusani, and finally reached Athos in 1842 and became a hermit, with his brother, near St. Anna, carving crosses. There he started to chant, being invited to many feasts at the great monasteries. In 1852 he moved to the Rumanian skete of Prodromu. He passed away to our Lord at the age of 95, in 1899, the night of 17th to 18th of December.

He promoted an ecumenical view of the Byzantine inheritance, composing different chants mainly in Rumanian, but also Greek and Slavonic. Some of them were published starting with 1897 by his disciple, hieromonk Dometie Ionescu (this was one of the most loved Byzantine music book in Latin characters ever). In Iasi Archim. Clement Haralam published in 2003 one of his masterpieces, the Sticherarion for the feasts of the year. 3 years ago prof. Vasile Vasile published his chants for the Divine Liturgy, with many Axions in the three languages mentioned before; unfortunately the text of his longer chants was modified in many places in this edition.

Prof. Trian Ocneanu: He was a protopsaltis not only of the Rumanian skete Prodromul, but also a 'protopsaltis of the Holy Mount', who used to be called by some of his Greek brothers 'The New Koukouzeles'. Since the Prodromul Skete is on the territory of the Great Lavra, he used to be invited to sing in the Lavra on the great feasts. In AMB II there is an extensive biographical note, and also a story in Greek about one of the events echoing his fame as a chanter among the Greeks.

Prof. Trian Ocneanu: A couple of pages from one of the MSS at Iasi featuring, besides Rumanian translations and adaptations from Greek authors, his own chants: here it is the service of the Akathistos. The text is in Rumanian written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Nectarie's chants are scattered all over the Holy Mount in dozens of MSS.
Nectarie-Ms-p77 [jpg, 1.9 Mb]
Nectarie-Ms-p78 [jpg, 1.6 Mb]

From csbi.ro: Protopsaltes Nectarie's Stikherarion.