[2] His father, Vasile Budișteanu, played the cimbalom in various Bucharest formations, being later co-opted into the orchestra of Grigoraș Dinicu, participating in the Universal Exhibitions in Paris (1937) and New York (1939).
Unable to attend classes regularly, he transferred to the "Pro Arte" Private Conservatory of Music in Bucharest (1936–1937), where he had Alexandru Theodorescu, concertmaster of the Philharmonic, as teacher.
[3] He followed two tours at the International Youth Festivals in Warsaw (1955) and Moscow (1957),[5] where he had exceptional successes (which earned him the title of "Artist Emeritus").
Budișteanu took over the management of popular music bands (made up of the best elements from Bucharest)[6] and began touring in Greece, United States (here he led the Ensemble called "Romanian Rhapsody" in 1962), France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Israel (the band was called "Miorița"), Algeria and Morocco.
[7] Between 1970 and 1991 he was the conductor of the "Romanian Rhapsody" Orchestra from Bucharest, supporting tours in Poland, France, USSR, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, United States, Mexico, Japan, Israel, Egypt, Argentina, Brazil, England, China, Mongolia, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Turkey, Ceylon, India, Burma, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Albania and Denmark.