International Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal Cellists Andrei Ioni?a & Zlatomir Fung to Perform at Symphony Hall with Boston Philharmonic in Feb.

In February the Boston Philharmonic, under the direction of Benjamin Zander, hosts the Boston orchestral debuts of two of the world’s top rising cellists as soloists at concerts in Symphony Hall. Romanian-born cellist Andrei Ioni?a, the Gold Medal-winner at the 2015 XV International Tchaikovsky Competition will perform Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 at the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s (BPO) concert on Sunday, February 6, at 3 PM. Boston-based Zlatomir Fung, the first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win the International Tchaikovsky Competition’s Gold Medal (in 2019 at the XVI edition), will be the featured soloist on Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 at the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s (BPYO) concert on Sunday, February, 27th, at 3 PM. Both concerts will also be available via live streaming.

“The identification and engagement of superlative international musicians who are new to Boston audiences has become an integral part of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra performances,” says Zander.

The BPO’s February 6^th concert also includes the Prelude to Khovanshchina, Mussorgsky’s last opera championed by many fellow composers, including Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich. “It’s a marvelous opening to a concert, representing an evocation of dawn over the river Moscow—a perfect curtain raiser to the most dramatic Russian cello concerto,” says Zander.

The BPO’s concert closes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, “Eroica.” Beloved by audiences, it is considered one of the hardest and most controversial symphonies to interpret. "I have something new to share with the audience about the Eroica, forged out of 50 years of study and performance,” says Zander. “Anyone who loves Beethoven and classical music won’t want to miss this concert.”

Zander will provide a “Guide to the Music” talk prior to the concert, at 1:45 PM.

The BPYO’s February 27^th concert opens with Ravel’s La Valse, an incremental deconstruction of the Viennese Waltz and concludes with Shostokovich’s Symphony No. 5. “It was the piece that placed Shostakovich front and center on the world’s musical stage, proclaimed him as the foremost composer of the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and by giving the illusion of placating the authorities, probably saved his life,” said Zander. “Since then, it has come to be regarded as music’s greatest symbol of the power of the artist to raise his voice in protest in even the darkest of times.”

The Times of London called Andre Ioni?a “one of the most exciting cellists to have emerged for a decade.” The versatile young musician was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2016-18 and made his U.S debut in 2017 with recitals in New York (in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall), Chicago, and Washington, D.C.; he has also performed with orchestras all over the world, such as the BBC Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. He performs on a Giovanni Battista Rogeri violoncello made by Brescia in 1671, on loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, a foundation from which he is a scholarship recipient.

“Ioni?as performance at the Tchaikovsky competition was extraordinary, with a range of styles over which he demonstrated mastery,” says Zander. “His performance of Bach in a distinctly historically informed fashion and the Shostakovich Sonata were reminiscent of Mstislav Rostropovich’s legendary and propulsive performance of the piece. A virtual unknown at the outset of the competition, he took the musical world by storm with his incredible technique and catalytic interpretation, as well as his ability to captivate the audience.”

At only 22 years old, Zlatomir Fung has already proven to be a star among the next generation of world-class musicians, spending the 2021-2022 season performing with orchestras and giving recitals in all corners of the world. A 2020 recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Fung's impeccable technique demonstrates a mastery of the canon and an exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire. Besides winning the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2017 Astral National Auditions, Fung has taken the top prizes at the 2018 Alice & Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, the 2016 George Enescu International Cello Competition, the 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition, and the 2014 Irving Klein International Competition. He was selected as a 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholar for the Arts and was awarded the 2016 Landgrave von Hesse Prize at the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses and has appeared on Boston-based radio show From the Top six times.

BPO tickets are $115, $90, $60 and $30; $10 for students. BPYO tickets are $60, $40, and $20; $10 for students. Tickets to the live stream of each concert are $20 for general admission, $10 for students, and $40 for supporters. Subscription packages are also available. Tickets are available at www.bostonphil.org or by calling 617-236-0999. Ticket policies are at www.bostonphil.org/concerts/ticket-policies; coronavirus updates at www.bostonphil.org/concerts/experience/virus.