Romanian violinist Ioana was taught the violin from the age of seven by her mother, and continued her studies at the Sigismund Toduţă School of Music in Cluj. Following her dream, Ioana came to London to study at the Royal College of Music, graduating with a first class bachelor’s degree.
Ioana is grateful for the support given to her for her studies by a Leverhulme Postgraduate Studentship, Stephen Bell Charitable Trust and St Marylebone Charitable Foundation.
A highly trained chamber musician, Ioana is the leader of the Sattler Quartet, performing regularly across London, the UK and Europe. Ioana’s training and collaborations have allowed her to work with internationally acclaimed artists including the Belcea String Quartet, the Vogler Quartet, Fine Arts Quartet and Levon Chilingirian and most recently, Ioana participated in the Sacconi Festival led by the Sacconi Quartet.
Ioana’s performances as a solo and chamber musician have taken her to venues such as St Martin-in-the-Fields, Cadogan Hall, Kings Place and the Royal Festival Hall. As an orchestral musician, Ioana has performed in festivals across the world, including the Castleton Festival (USA) under maestro Lorin Maazel and the Chipping Campden Festival Orchestra.
Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us
I am absolutely obsessed with magical, mystical stories, books, films, series, cartoons. I thought it was just a childhood phase, but even today I still enjoy them and hope one day I will become a witch or something. Some people say I already am one!
What or who inspired you to become a professional musician?
My mother inspired me to become a musician: she had always wanted to be a musician, but due to the world she was living in, that dream had never come true, so I felt extremely drawn to music because of the way she would talk about it.
Which three people, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with and why?
I would love to have dinner with Ivry Gitlis, because he is so much fun to listen to, his stories are incredible! And his joy to live is contagious, so I would love some of that.
The Amadeus Quartet members, because I have so many questions about how they managed to play some of the most amazing works from the chamber music repertoire.
Steve Martin (Pink Panther) because I grew up with his movies and it would be very interesting to find out if he is funny in real life.