Daniel Ciobanu first attracted international acclaim in 2017 at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv where he won both the Silver Medal and Audience Prize. He subsequently appeared at Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Berlin, St John’s Smith Square in London, Enescu Festival in Bucharest, and toured in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Africa and Brazil.
“A full and luminous sound, immense pianistic poise, sensibility, an originality without overwhelming ego” (Alain Lompech). Ciobanu’s distinctive musical personality and technical command has led to performances with top orchestras all over the world.
Ciobanu is regularly invited by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig where he has performed under Omer Meir Welber and as a solo recitalist. In the 21/22 season, he has made his debuts with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Polish Baltic Philharmonic and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.
Recent highlights include concerts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Konzerthausorchester Berlin; Enescu Festival in Bucharest with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra; Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen; Israel Philharmonic and Israel Camerata; Royal Scottish National Orchestra; George Enescu Philharmonic and Romanian National Radio Orchestra.
In August 2021 he made his Lucerne Festival recital debut and he was invited for his Vienna Konzerthaus debut, playing Beethoven violin and piano sonatas with Julian Rachlin. Ciobanu also made his Royal Festival Hall debut in 2010, and since then he has given solo recitals in venues such as Munich Gasteig, Salzburg Mozarteum, Auditorium de Radio France, Salle Cortot, Fazioli Hall in Sacile, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Bucharest Atheneum, Duszniki Chopin Festival, Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv and the Taipei National Concert Hall.
Other recent invitations include the Dresdener Staatskapelle, Zurich Tonhalle, BBC Philharmonic orchestras and with the Orquesta da Galicia. Beginning in the 20/21 season he is the first ever Artist in Residence at the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest. His opening season of residency included concerts under Cristian Macelaru and Gabriel Bebeselea.
In September 2020 he released his first CD, a solo disc of works by Prokofiev, Debussy, Liszt and Enescu, which was released on the Accentus label. It received outstanding critical acclaim including the following quote from Deutschlandfunk: “With this debut album, Daniel Ciobanu introduces himself as a clever and extremely emotional artist. A closer look reveals the clever conception and careful thought about the pieces. Musically, the narrative will of the pianist absolutely grabs one's attention, and nothing stands in the way of his technical ability. With Daniel Ciobanu, music becomes an experience”.
In 2017 Ciobanu founded the Neamt Music Festival in his home town of Piatra Neamt in Romania, to create a fresh and innovative international platform for the cream of today’s young artists. The week-long festival takes place every year in the Carpathian Mountains and features not only classical programming but also embraces other sympathetic art forms including jazz, video-mapping, painting and dance.
In 2015 he received the 1st Grand Prix, Public Prize and Orchestra Prize at the Morocco Philharmonic International Piano Competition - becoming the first pianist in the history of the competition to have won all the Special Prizes along with being unanimously voted by the jury for the Top Prize. He has also won 1st Prize and Special Prize for the best “Classical Sonata” at the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria (South Africa), and 1st Prize at the BNDES International Piano Competition in Rio de Janeiro.
Ciobanu started learning the piano at the age of nine in Piatra Neamt, Romania, initially with Magdolna Cosma and Delia Balan, and later with Mihaela Spiridon and Iulian Arcadi Trofin. He went on to win scholarships to study in Scotland with Graeme McNaught and subsequently with Aaron Shorr and Petras Geniusas, graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He completed his studies at the École Normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot” in Paris with Marian Rybicki and in the Universität der Künste in Berlin with Pascal Devoyon and Markus Groh.
