Matthias Manasi, Andrei Ionita and the Ploiesti Philharmonic Orchestra in a program that burns with radiance

Matthias Manasi, Andrei Ionita and the Ploiesti Philharmonic Orchestra with Elgar and Lalo

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA, April 2, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Emerging conductor Matthias Manasi makes his Ploiești Philharmonic Orchestra debut in a program that burns with radiance. Thematic beauty, warmth, rhythmical impulsivity, superb energy and the sense of sheer beauty emanate from Elgar's Symphony No. 1, a statement of geniality premiered shortly after the turn of the 20th century in 1908.

Noblesse and longing for the Spanish flair and the Mediterranean temperament sing through the unforgettable melodies of Lalo’s Cello Concerto, performed by rising star Andrei Ioniță, who won among others first prize at the Aram Khatchaturian International Competition and first prize at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition.

The concert with the Ploiești Philharmonic Orchestra will take place on 18 April 2024, 7.00pm
Edouard Lalo: Cello Concerto in D minor
Edward Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A flat major

📍 This concert takes place at Filarmonica Paul Constantinescu
🕒 1 hour, 40 min (including intermission)

Andrei Ioniță

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 Ioniță 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, Zürich 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 Ioniță’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 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.

Matthias Manasi

Since his acclaimed debuts at several opera houses and with several international orchestras Matthias Manasi has been one of the outstanding conductors of his generation. The German conductor Matthias Manasi was celebrated early on as a child prodigy and entered early an international career as conductor.

He studied conducting at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts with Thomas Ungar. He studied piano at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts with Andrzej Ratusiński and at the Karlsruhe University of Music with Carmen Piazzini. His other conducting teachers and mentors have included Kurt Masur, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Helmuth Rilling, Jorma Panula, Karl Österreicher, Georg Tintner and Sylvain Cambreling. At the age of 19, Manasi joined the conducting staff of the Staatsoper Stuttgart as a repetiteur and assistant conductor. He made his professional conducting debut there, at the age of 19 with Stravinsky's 'L'histoire du soldat' at the Wilhelma-Theater in Stuttgart. During his studies he was an assistant to Heinz Holliger (SWR Symphonieorchester) , Manfred Honeck (Czech Philharmonic/Internationale Bach-Akademie) and Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez.

While still a student he started to work at the Kiel Opera House as Kapellmeister, then at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater where he conducted a wide opera and symphonic repertoire. From 2000 he was the chief conductor of the Orchestra Camerata Italiana (since 2010 also artistic director), at the time, the youngest chief conductor of a European orchestra. In 2012 he conducted the world premiere of Cosimo Minicozzi's oratorio “The Passion of Padre Pio da Pietrelcina” with the Orchestra Camerata Italiana. He concluded his tenure at the close of the 2012-13 season. In the years 2010 to 2013 he was music director of the International PuntaClassic Festival with the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra in Montevideo. From 2013 to 2015 he was a conductor of the Wrocław Opera and in the season 2016/2017 he worked as a conductor of the Poznań Opera. In 2017, he became the musical director and chief conductor of Nickel City Opera in Buffalo, (New York, USA). In 2018 he made his debut conducting concerts for CineConcerts in association with Warner Bros. with music by John Williams from the Harry Potter film series. Manasi stepped down as music director and chief conductor of the Nickel City Opera in Buffalo at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season.

Matthias Manasi has made guest appearances among others at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, at the Staatstheater Kassel, at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, at the Opéra de Marseille, at the Leipzig Opera, at the Prague State Opera, at the Theater Bremen, at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, at the Opera Constanta, at the State Opera Rousse, at the Opernhaus Halle, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Silesian State Theater, at the Teatro Solis and at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt.

Parallel to his opera career, Manasi conducted, among others, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, the SWR Symphonieorchester, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro, the Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Niedersächsische Staatsorchester Hannover, the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, the Slovak Sinfonietta, the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, the Cukurova Devlet Senfoni Orkestras, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, the Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, the Orchestra Sinfonica della Provincia di Bari, the Vratsa Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra in Tucson, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, the Wiener Mozart Orchester, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vantaa Symphony Orchestra, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfonica do Rio Grande do Norte and the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to his work as a conductor, he regularly performs as a concert pianist with major orchestras. On March 5, 2016, he made his debut with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra as both conductor and pianist, opening the 24th Liepaja International Stars Festival in the new Great Amber Concert Hall. As both conductor and pianist he also made debuts in June 2019 with the Orquestra Sinfonica do Rio Grande do Norte and in February 2020 with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra.

Matthias Manasi has recorded numerous works for radio, television and is featured as conductor on commercial recordings for various labels. On April 7, 2023, a CD was released on the label Hänssler Classic with Matthias Manasi as conductor and the Slovak Sinfonietta with Mozart's Symphonies Nos. 34, 35 & 36. In January 2024, Matthias Manasi conducted the New Year's Concert 2024 with the Selangor Symphony Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur.

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