IRINA MURESANU

Romanian violinist IRINA MURESANU has won the hearts of audiences and critics alike with her exciting, elegant and heartfelt performances of the classic, romantic and modern repertoire. The Boston Globe has come to praise her as “…not just a virtuoso, but an artist”, and the Los Angeles Times has written that her “musical luster, melting lyricism and colorful conception made Irina Muresanu’s performance especially admirable,” while Strad Magazine called her Carnegie/Weill Hall performance a “…a first-rate recital.” Irina Muresanu’s performances have been frequently cited as among the “Best of” classical music performances by the Boston Globe, and her recital in the Emerging Artist Celebrity Series was named one of the Top 10 musical events by the TAB Magazine.

Early on, Ms. Muresanu had acquired international acclaim as an outstanding young soloist, recitalist and chamber musician having already achieved top prizes in numerous international violin competitions. These include the Montreal International, Queen Elizabeth Violin, UNISA International String, Washington International, and the Schadt String Competitions. She is also the winner of the Pro Musicis International Award, the Presser Music Award and the Arthur Foote Award from the Harvard Musical Association and the Paul Rolland Award.

Irina Muresanu has performed in renowned concert halls throughout the North America, Europe and Asia. Her recent engagements as soloist include concerts with the Boston Pops, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Geneva), the Syracuse Symphony, the Metropolitan Orchestra (Montreal), the Transvaal Philharmonic (Pretoria), the Orchestre de la Radio Flamande (Brussels), the Boston Phiharmonic, the Willliamsburg Sinfonia, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, the New England String Ensemble and the Miami Symphony Orchestra among others.

This season, the Civic Symphony of Boston commissioned a violin concerto from composer Thomas Oboe Lee to be written especially for Irina Muresanu, which she premiered in March 2010.

Ms. Muresanu can often be hearn on major radio stations such as NPR, Boston’s WGBH, New York’s WQXR, Radio France Classique, Hong Kong Radio and Romanian Radio Classical.

In 2008, Ms. Muresanu (along with pianist Michael Lewin) released the integrale of William Bolcom's violin and piano sonatas for the Centaur label, funded by a Copland Recording Grant award. In Europe, her recording of the Guillaume Lekeu and Alberic Magnard late Romantic violin and piano sonatas (with pianist Dana Ciocarlie) for the AR RE-SE French label has sparked enthusiasm and Ms. Muresanu was praised for her “singing and soaring” “sizzling performance” (Fanfare). The artist has also recorded the world premiere recording of Marion Bauer's Sonata for Violin and Piano (with pianist Virginia Eskin) on Albany Records, a CD with chamber works of Andy Vores, and a CD featuring chamber works of Erich Korngold released by the VPRO Radio Amsterdam. Adding to her other competition laurels, Ms. Muresanu has been granted a Special Commendation award for her recording of Schoenberg's Fantasy for violin and piano at the 3rd International Vienna Modern Masters Performers Recording Competition.

Irina Muresanu’s talents have been sought out for collaboration with such noted performers as Kim Kashkashian, Cynthia Phelps, Sharon Robinson, Ronald Thomas, Andres Cardenes, Ilya Kaler, and Nathaniel Rosen. An active chamber musician, Ms. Muresanu has appeared in such festivals and venues as Bargemusic in New York; the Rockport Festival in Massachusetts; Bay Chambers concert series and Bowdoin Festival in Maine; the Strings in the Mountains and San Juan Music festival in Colorado; Maui Chamber Music Festival in Hawaii, Reizend Music festival in Netherlands; Festival van de Leie in Belgium; and the Renncontres des Musiciennes festival in France. Ms. Muresanu has been a member of the Boston Trio since 2002 and she performs with the Andover Chamber Music Society, the Walden Chamber Players and the Boston Chamber Music Society.

Irina Muresanu currently serves on both the faculties of the Boston Conservatory and the Music Department at Harvard University. She was appointed Artist-in-Residence as a member of the Lewin-Muresanu Duo at the Boston Conservatory and her ensemble, the Boston Trio, is Ensmble-in-Residence at the New England Conservatory. A native of Bucharest, Romania, she received the prestigious Artist Diploma (1999) and a Doctorate in Musical Arts degree (2009) from the New England Consevatory.

Born in Bucharest, Romania, Ms. Muresanu resides in Boston, MA. She plays a 1856 Giuseppe Rocca violin and a Charles Peccat bow courtesy of Mr. Mark Ptashne.