American-Russian violinist Maria Ioudenitch captured the attention of music lovers worldwide in 2021 when she received first prizes in three international violin competitions – the Ysaÿe, Tibor Varga and Joseph Joachim – as well as numerous special prizes at these competitions, including Joachim’s Chamber Music Award, the prize for Best Interpretation of a Commissioned Work and the Henle Urtext Prize. In 2023, she won the Opus Klassik Award in the category “Chamber Music Recording of the Year” for her debut album, Songbird, on Warner Classics.
Recognized for her innovative programs, her first album on Warner with pianist Kenny Broberg, spans from Franz Schubert and Fanny Mendelssohn to Nikolai Medtner and Nadia Boulanger. In upcoming concerts, she performs concertos by Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Barber, as well as Vivaldi’s “Il Grosso Mogul”, while this season’s recital programs include works by Lera Auerbach and Germaine Tailleferre, alongside standard violin repertoire.
Highlights of the 24/25 season include debuts with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as part of the Orpheum Foundation’s concert series, with Trondheim Symfoniorkester, with Sofia Philharmonic and with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, with whom she also goes on tour. She is also invited by Heidelberger Frühling, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg and Philharmonia Frankfurt. Maria will return to Dresden Philharmonic for the New Year’s concert, after a very successful tour together in the UK in 2024. Upcoming debut appearances in the USA are with the Cincinnati and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.
Named a “Great Talent” by the Konzerthaus Wien, a program that supports young artists on their way to the top of the world, she gives various recitals at the Wiener Konzerthaus. As an active chamber musician, she participates in chamber music tours with Ravinia Steans Music Institute and Marlboro Music Festival.
Maria Ioudenitch has made her debuts with hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (at Berlin’s Philharmonie), MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Münchner Symphoniker. She works with conductors such as Andrey Boreyko, Sir Donald Runnicles, Alpesh Chauhan, Marta Gardolińska, Holly Hyun Choe, Jonathan Bloxham, Yi-Chen Lin, Ryan Bancroft, Kevin John Edusei, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Andrew Manze, Jan Willem de Vriend, Robin Ticciati and Ruth Reinhardt.
Maria grew up in Kansas City and began playing violin with Gregory Sandomirsky at the age of three. She continued her studies with Ben Sayevich at the International Center for Music in Kansas City and Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi at the Curtis Institute of Music and completed her master’s degree and Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Miriam Fried. In 2021-2023, she was mentored by Sonia Simmenauer as part of her new initiative, zukunfts.music. Currently, she is in the Professional Studies program at the Kronberg Academy, working with Christian Tetzlaff.
Photo Credit: Andrej Grilc