About
Andrei Ioniță (born 1 January 1994 in Bucharest) is a Romanian cellist. He won first prize in the cello division of the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition.
A new generation of musicians introduces the phenomenal cellist, winner of the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition Andrej Ionita to Lithuanian audiences for the first time. On April 24, he will perform in the Klaipeda Concert Hall, on April 25 – in the Kaunas Philharmonic, on April 26 – in the Lithuanian National Philharmonic in Vilnius. According to The Times, A. Ionita is one of the most outstanding cellists of the last decade. His performance at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, where he won the gold medal, was a real sensation. The special richness of sound production, originality and freedom of interpretation of music captivated the jury and audiences from all over the world. This competition is one of the most prestigious, followed by thousands of people both directly and online, so becoming its prize winner is a great honor and one of the highest marks for any musician. The winners of the competition in their time were such celebrities as cellists David Geringas and Alexander Knyazev, pianists Van Cliburn, Grigory Sokolov, Nikolay Pletnev and others. Answering the question about his experiences at the competition, A. Ionita, in particular, admitted that he always felt that he was seen and listened to by thousands of people, and at the same time he was happy to play the works of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich in their homeland. Representatives of the main concert halls and orchestras of the world immediately noticed this exceptionally talented performer and today he is invited to perform in such halls as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Cadogan Hall, and others. Next season he will perform with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and will also go on a concert tour in Japan, Germany, Finland, at the Lucerne Festival and other music festivals. The cellist has been chosen by the BBC as a performer of the new generation for 2016-2018. A. Ionita's concert schedule is planned for several years in advance, so the Lithuanian public will have a unique chance to hear this phenomenal performer in the halls of our country. It should be added that Andrei Ionita plays a cello made by Giovanni Battista Rogeri in 1671, provided by one of the German foundations. A. Ionita was born in 1994 in Bucharest (Romania). His path in music began with the piano, which he began learning to play at the age of five. And only at the age of eight did he pick up the cello, which became his first love. He studied with Professor Anja-Marie Paladi in Bucharest, and then in the class of Professor Jens Peter Meins at the Berlin University of the Arts. In Lithuania, cellist A. Ionita will perform together with pianist Kasparas Uinskas. The musicians will perform together for the first time. According to K. Uinskas, when he first heard Ionita play, he was amazed by his talent and musicality, and is very happy to have the opportunity to play together with a stage partner of such a level, who is not limited by technical capabilities and who feels absolute musical freedom.