“A full and luminous sound, immense pianistic poise, sensibility, an originality without overwhelming ego” - Alain Lompech
Daniel Ciobanu first gained international attention in 2016 after sweeping the gold medals at two major competitions: the prestigious UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa and the BNDES International Piano Festival in Rio de Janeiro. A year later, he solidified his rising reputation by winning both the Silver Medal and the Audience Prize at the 2017 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv.
These early triumphs led to a string of high-profile debuts at world-renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Berlin, St John’s Smith Square in London, and the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. Ciobanu has since toured extensively in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Africa, and Brazil.
2025-26 season highlights include his return to the George Enescu Festival to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, a piece he will also perform in a debut performance with the Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, with whom he also performs Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3. He embarks on a tour of Israel with the Tel Aviv Soloists, playing Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, and returns to his home in Romania to perform Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Romanian Cluj Philharmonic. He also joins the Carmel Quartet for a series of Brahms piano quartet recitals across Israel and appears as a soloist throughout the country. Additional recital engagements include joining soprano Veronica Anusca to perform a programme of Lieder and solo piano works at the Romanian Athenaeum of Bucharest and a solo recital at a festival presented by the Polish Baltic Philharmonic.
The 2024–25 season saw Ciobanu return to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 under the baton of Gemma New, and to the Bielefeld Philharmonic with Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He also made his debut with the Belgrade Philharmonic, performing Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz and Totentanz with Music Director Gabriel Feltz, and gave a solo recital at Lucerne Symphony’s renowned piano festival, Le Piano Symphonique.
Ciobanu’s distinctive musical personality and technical command have led to performances with renowned orchestras such as Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, where he has performed under the baton of Omer Meir Wellber. Previous highlights include debuts with the Netherlands Philharmonic, Mineria Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester, Volksoper Wien, Belgrade Philharmonic, and Tiroler Symphony Orchestra, as well as concerts at the Enescu Festival with Cameristi della Scala, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Israel Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In recital, highlights include performances at Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Brucknerhaus Linz, Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier, and a semi-staged performance of Strauss’ Enoch Arden at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with Isabel Karajan.
Earlier in his career, he made his Royal Festival Hall debut in 2010, followed by solo recitals at Munich Gasteig, Salzburg Mozarteum, De Bijloke Gent, Auditorium de Radio France, Salle Cortot, Fazioli Hall (Sacile), Teatro Massimo (Palermo), Bucharest Atheneum, Duszniki Chopin Festival, Teatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro), Bronfman Auditorium (Tel Aviv), and the National Concert Hall (Taipei).
In the 2020/21 season, Ciobanu was appointed the first-ever Artist-in-Residence of the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest, a three-season tenure that included collaborations with conductors Cristian Măcelaru and Gabriel Bebeșelea.
A passionate advocate for artistic innovation, Ciobanu is the founder and artistic director of the #SharpFestival, a groundbreaking biennial platform for young artists. The festival blends classical music with jazz, video-mapping, visual art, and dance, reflecting Ciobanu’s bold, cross-disciplinary vision.
His debut solo album, released in September 2020 on the Accentus label, features works by Prokofiev, Debussy, Liszt, and Enescu. The recording received critical acclaim, with Deutschlandfunk writing: “With this debut album, Daniel Ciobanu introduces himself as a clever and extremely emotional artist. A closer look reveals the careful thought behind the programming. Musically, his narrative power is gripping, and technically, nothing stands in his way. With Daniel Ciobanu, music becomes an experience.”
Earlier accolades include his remarkable win at the 2015 Morocco Philharmonic International Piano Competition, where he became the first pianist in the competition’s history to win the 1st Grand Prix, Public Prize, and Orchestra Prize, as well as unanimous jury approval.
Born in Piatra Neamț, Romania, Ciobanu began piano studies at the age of nine with Magdolna Cosma and Delia Bălan, later studying with Mihaela Spiridon and Iulian Arcadi Trofin. He earned scholarships to study in Scotland with Graeme McNaught and continued his training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Aaron Shorr and Petras Geniušas. Further studies took him to the École Normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot” in Paris with Marian Rybicki, and to Berlin’s Universität der Künste with Pascal Devoyon and Markus Groh.
July 2025
