Daniel Ciobanu
Daniel Ciobanu is a Romanian pianist, internationally acclaimed for his distinctive musical voice, exceptional technical command and uncompromising commitment to artistic individuality. His career encompasses performance, education, artistic direction and the creation of new platforms for contemporary musical expression.
Ciobanu first attracted international attention after winning Gold Medals at the UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa and the BNDES International Piano Festival in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In 2017, he was awarded both the Silver Medal and Audience Prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv. Since then, he has performed at many of the world’s leading concert venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Lucerne Festival and the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. His international engagements have taken him across Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa.
As a soloist, Ciobanu has collaborated with leading orchestras and conductors including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Omer Meir Wellber, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Gemma New, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, among many others. His repertoire spans the core piano concerto literature alongside repertoire that cross the boundaries between classical music, jazz and contemporary culture.
His artistry has been described by Alain Lompech as possessing “a full and luminous sound, immense pianistic poise, sensibility, an originality without overwhelming ego.”
Ciobanu was the first Artist in Residence of the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest, from 2021 to 2023. He was subsequently Artist in Residence of the Banatul Philharmonic in Timișoara from 2023 to 2024. His first solo recording, released by Accentus in 2020, featured works by Prokofiev, Debussy, Liszt and Enescu and received international critical acclaim.
Alongside his performing career, Ciobanu is deeply committed to artistic innovation and education. He is the Artistic Director and founder of #SharpFestival, an interdisciplinary platform in Bucharest bringing classical music into dialogue with jazz, electronic music, visual art, dance and other contemporary forms. In 2025 he founded Addixion Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble of young Romanian string players built around a conductorless, collaborative model that encourages musicians to develop their own artistic agency and collective responsibility.
Ciobanu began his musical studies in Romania before receiving scholarships to study in Scotland, where he completed the BMus Performance (Piano) and MMus Performance (Piano) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying with Graeme McNaught, Aaron Shorr and Petras Geniusas. He subsequently continued his studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot” with Marian Rybicki and at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Pascal Devoyon and Markus Groh.
Returning to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as a Visiting Professor, Ciobanu brings together the perspective of an international performing artist with that of an educator, curator and artistic entrepreneur.