Ovidiu Marinescu

Ovidiu Marinescu is internationally recognized as a cellist, composer, conductor, and educator. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall (New York), the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Holywell Room in Oxford, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, and has appeared as soloist with the London Symphony, New York Chamber Symphony, the National Radio Orchestra of Romania, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Helena, Great Falls, Portsmouth, and Newark Symphonies, Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Philharmonic, Limeira Symphony in Brazil, Orquesta de Extremadura in Spain, and most of the professional orchestras in his native Romania. The album LONDON CELLO CONNECTION features Marinescu and London Symphony Orchestra in eight newly commissioned cello concertos by North American composers.

Marinescu’s ongoing MOTO series, developed with PARMA Recordings, has been praised as “bold and expressive” (Gramophone Magazine) and “tight, musical, technically virtuosic” (The Whole Note). Since its launch in 2012, the MOTO series has premiered works by close to 50 composers in both recordings and performance at Carnegie Hall. Highlights for 2024 include the debut with Wuhan Philharmonic in China, Beethoven Triple Concerto with Helena Symphony and violinist Tim Schwarz and pianist Igor Resnianski, performances as soloist with Braşov Philharmonic in Romania and Berks Sinfonietta in Pennsylvania, a new album for PARMARecordings, and a return engagement with Westchester Chamber Soloists as conductor and composer. Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall will host Marinescu in performances with Trio Casals and a cello/piano recital with Noreen Cassidy-Polera.

Marinescu has more than 25 album releases for PARMA Recordings and Cambria as a cellist, conductor, or chamber musician, and several recordings released independently. His recording of Arthur Gottschalk’s Sonata for Cello and Piano has received the Gold Medal at the Global Music Awards for 2014, as well as a repeated Gold Medal for his recordings with Trio Casals of works by Joanna Estelle in 2023. His recording of The Sea Knows by Michael Kurek made its debut as no. 1 on the Classical Billboard list in July 2017. His first recording — Fiesta Latina — was followed by a recording of the complete Miaskovsky cello works with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist Kenneth Boulton released by Cambria. The complete Bach Cello Suites, released by Navona Records, have been acclaimed by the international press for their vibrancy and stylistic sparkle. 

Marinescu’s compositions have been performed in Romania, China, Brazil, Bulgaria, Russia, Guatemala, Montenegro, and across the United States. PARMA Recordings included I’m All Ears for solo cello on the album MOTO CELESTE and Rorrim no. 1. A Short Essay on the album THROUGH GLASS, and his piano trio The Journey for the A GRAND JOURNEY. He has been composer-in-residence for the International Chamber Music Festival in Guatemala City and the 7th edition of the International String Encounters in Limeira, Brazil. His Concerto for Two Cellos, String, and Percussion was co-commissioned by seven orchestras in 2020 with funding from West Chester University. A recently composed clarinet quintet for internationally renowned clarinetist Ricardo Morales and The Dali Quartet, entitled The Seven Dreams of Frida Kahlo, will be premiered in 2024. This May, Westchester Chamber Soloists orchestra premiered his composition The Day I Started.