Andrei Ioniță, cello
Andrei Ioniță plays on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, November 2-3, 2024
“...a fully individual musical personality...with a sparking technique and the priceless ability to respond to what is going on around him while he is displaying it.”
– The Guardian
The Gold Medal-winner at the 2015 XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, Andrei Ioniță is one of the most admired cellists of his generation, called “one of the most exciting cellists to have emerged for a decade,” by The Times of London. A versatile musician focused on giving gripping, deeply felt performances, Andrei has been recognized for his passionate musicianship and technical finesse. His debut album on Orchid Classics combined a Brett Dean world- premiere with Bach and Kodály, prompting Gramophone to declare him “a cellist of superb skill, musical imagination and a commitment to music of our time.”
Andrei made his U.S. debut in 2017 with recitals in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and gave his New York debut recital in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Previous season highlights include performances with the Münchner Philharmoniker, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, BBC Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He has worked with famous conductors including Herbert Blomstedt, Cristian Macelaru, Sylvain Cambreling, Kent Nagano, Omer Meir Wellber, John Storgårds, Joanna Mallwitz, and Ruth Reinhardt. He has given recitals at Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie, Zurich Tonhalle, LAC Lugano, and L’Auditori in Barcelona, as well as at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig- Holstein, Verbier, and Martha Argerich Festivals. Andrei Ioniță’s exceptional talent makes him a versatile and sought-after performer of chamber music. In his concerts, he joins forces with Martha Argerich, Christian Tetzlaff, Sergei Babayan, and Steven Isserlis, among others.
Highlights of Andrei’s 2023-24 season include performances with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under the baton of Paavo Järvi, the Mexico Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ludwig Carrasco, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ruth Reinhardt, the Opéra national de Lorraine conducted by Marta Gardolińska, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Newbury Festival conducted by Jonathan Bloxham. Also in the 2023-24 season, Andrei will serve as Artist-in-residence of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra in Bucharest in Timișoara, Europe’s 2023 cultural capital.
Prior to winning the Tchaikovsky Competition, Andrei won First Prize at the Khachaturian International Competition in June 2013, and Second Prize and the Special Prize for his
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interpretation of a commissioned composition at the International ARD Music Competition. In 2014, he received Second Prize at the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann in Berlin. He was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2016-18 and was the Symphoniker Hamburg’s artist-in-residence for the 2019-20 season.
Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1994, Andrei Ioniță first became a student of Ani-Marie Paladi and later of Prof. Jens Peter Maintz at the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin. A scholarship recipient of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, Andrei performs on a cello made by Giovanni Battista Rogeri from Brescia in 1671, generously on loan from the foundation.
