“A very rare talent…” (Salvatore Accardo)
“Intelligent, original and convincing as well as with a great musical taste and strong stage presence!” (Hatto Beyerle)
Jonian-Ilias Kadesha, winner of five international solo and chamber music competitions in the last three years, is quickly proving to be one of the most exciting and interesting young musicians to discover these years.
Recently, Jonian-Ilias Kadesha was a finalist and special prize winner of the renowned “German Music Competition” in Lübeck and received numerous engagements throughout Germany for the 2016/2017 season. Furthermore, in 2013 he was awarded the 2nd prize, the audience prize and the chamber music prize at the “8th International Leopold Mozart Violin Competition” in Augsburg.
With his trio GASPARD he won first prizes and numerous special prizes at the “International Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition” in Weimar as well as at the “International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition” in Vienna. In addition, Jonian-Ilias Kadesha, together with pianist Florian Glemser, received 2nd prize at the “International Duo Competition” in Sweden.
Born in Athens in 1992, the Albanian-Greek violinist received his first violin lessons from his father at the age of four. In 2005, Jonian-Ilias Kadesha, then 13 years old, graduated from the “Linda Leussi” Conservatory in Athens with a gold medal. He then continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg with Prof. Grigori Zhislin, where he received his Artist Diploma in 2013. He is currently studying for his Master’s degree with Prof. Ulf Wallin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin.
In addition, Jonian-Ilias Kadesha studied with Salvatore Accardo at the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona and complemented his training with numerous solo and chamber music master classes with renowned musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Steven Isserlis, Ferenc Rados, Hatto Beyerle, Gerhard Schulz, Renaud Capuçon, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Peter Nagy, Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet), Avedis Kouyoumdjian and the Juilliard String Quartet.
Jonian-Ilias Kadesha made his debut as a soloist in 2004 at the age of 12, when he performed Wieniawski’s 2nd Violin Concerto at the Teatro dei Rozzi in Siena with the Orchestra della Toscana conducted by Giampaolo Bisanti. Since then he has played frequently with orchestras such as the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Greek Radio Orchestra, the Würzburg Chamber Orchestra, the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra, the Athens City Symphony Orchestra, the Albanian Radio Orchestra, the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and the Monteverdi Chamber Orchestra. Conductors with whom Jonian-Ilias Kadesha has collaborated include Bruno Weil, Alberto Lysy, Ari Rasilainen, Michalis Economou, Christopher Franklin and Claudio Büchler.
His recitals and concerts have taken Jonian-Ilias Kadesha to important venues in Europe, including Megaron Mousikis in Athens, Salle Garnier in Monte Carlo, Wigmore Hall in London, Teatro dei Rozzi in Siena, San Barnaba in Brescia and Goldener Saal in Augsburg. His performances have so far been broadcast by BR, Deutschlandradio, SWR, ORF and RAI in Germany, Italy and Austria, among others, as well as on television stations in Greece and Albania.
A dedicated chamber musician, Jonian-Ilias Kadesha has collaborated with musicians such as Gidon Kremer, Salvatore Accardo, Steven Isserlis, Kim Kashkashian, Bruno Giuranna and Renaud Capuçon, and has followed invitations to festivals and projects including the Progetto Martha Argerich, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, the Northern Chords Festival, the DAVOS FESTIVAL, the Engadin Festival, Settimane Musicali, the PODIUM Festival Esslingen, the Amati Festival, Omaggio a Cremona, the Montebello Chamber Music Festival and the Bel Air Festival.
Jonian-Ilias Kadesha is co-founder of Trio GASPARD, a critically acclaimed international piano trio. Sponsored by Prof. Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet), the Trio GASPARD is a winner of the Haydn as well as the Joachim Competition in Vienna and Weimar respectively. With his trio he performs regularly in Germany, England, France and South Korea. Among them are such renowned venues as Wigmore Hall in London, Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna and Salle Molière in Lyon. The performances were broadcast nationwide by SWR, ORF and KBS (Korean Radio Television), among others. Jonian-Ilias Kadesha plays on a violin by Niccolò Gagliano (Naples,18th century), which was given to him on loan by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, and on a copy of the Guarneri del Gesù 1733, built by Svetozar Bogdanoski (Veles, 2006), sponsored by the Costopoulos Cultural Foundation in Athens.