Andrei Ionita was born in Bucharest (Romania) in 1994, and began to play the piano at the age of five. Three years later he changed to the cello and started receiving tuition at the “Iosif Sava” music school in Bucharest, with Ani-Marie Paladi. Since 2012 he has been studying with Professor Jens Peter Maintz at the University of Performing Arts in Berlin, and also receives a scholarship from the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein.
Andrei Ionita has profited from valuable musical stimuli from many great contemporary cellists, such as David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Heinrich Schiff, Wolfgang Boettcher, Gary Hoffman and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. At the Kronberg Academy’s Festival “Chamber Music Connects the World”, he performed alongside musicians such as Gidon Kremer and Christian Tetzlaff. Over the last few years, Andrei Ionita has been invited to perform in important venues such as the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, the “Herkulessaal” in Munich, the “Stadtcasino” in Basel or the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.
The young cellist has been awarded numerous prizes in international competitions. Some highlights include winning 1st prize at the “Aram Khachaturian International Competition” in June 2013, and 2nd prize at the “ARD International Music Competition” in Munich in September 2014, where he also won the special prize for the best interpretation of a commissioned piece. Two months later, he was awarded 2nd prize at the “Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann 2014” in Berlin. His major breakthrough at international level was achieved when he won the 1st prize at the “International Tchaikovsky Competition” in Moscow in June 2015. Consequently, the 2015/2016 season has been filled with major debuts, including recitals with the “Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin”, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the “Filarmonica di Bologna” and with the “George Enescu” Philharmonic in Bucharest. The Russian maestro Valery Gergiev has also invited him to perform together with him in a host of concerts, in locations including London, Munich, Baden-Baden and St. Petersburg. In February 2016 he will be artist in residence at the FESTIVAL NEXT GENERATION Bad Ragaz in Switzerland.
Andrei Ionita receives a scholarship from the “Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben” foundation, which makes it possible for him to play a Giovanni Battista Rogeri (Brescia) cello, made in 1671.
January 2016