02/04/2025
Orfeo Mandozzi
📌 The jury of the Montfort International Cellist Competition, Austria 2025
With his “fascinating musical personality and the bewitching beauty of his tone” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Orfeo Mandozzi has captivated audiences throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia and South America.
Orfeo Mandozzi, born in Ticino, made his debut as a soloist with orchestra at the Eurovision competition just four years after beginning his cello studies. He has won first prizes at several international competitions, including Johannes Brahms, Osaka, UFAM Paris, Orpheus and Illzach.
He went on to study cello, composition and conducting, graduating summa cm laude and with a Mention of Honor from the CNSM Paris Conservatory, the Milan Conservatory, the Juilliard School in New York and the Vienna Musikhochschule. Orfeo Mandozzi has worked regularly with leading cellists including Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo Yo Ma, Harvey Shapiro, Daniel Shafran, Paul Tortelier and Maurice Gendron. In addition to a long working relationship with Boris Kuschnir, he had a close musical and personal connection with Bernard Greenhouse, who said of the cellist: “Orfeo Mandozzi could be one of the leading cellists of our time.”
His international concert activities as a soloist include tours to almost all European countries, the USA, South and Central America and the Middle East as well as numerous radio, television and CD productions. The CD recordings in particular reflect Orfeo Mandozzi's broad repertoire and include award-winning solo and chamber music recordings. The world premiere recording of Fiala's concertos alone has sold over 4000 copies worldwide. The recordings have won numerous awards and Orfeo Mandozzi's playing has been described as “so captivating that you have to hold your breath” (Pizzicato).
Orfeo Mandozzi performs regularly with Nikolaj Znaider, Julian Rachlin, David Garrett, Gérard Caussé, Yuri Bashmet, Itamar Golan, Bernd Glemser and many others. He has also been a member of the Vienna Brahms Trio (Boris Kuschnir, violin and Jasminka Stancul, piano) for 28 years.
Orfeo Mandozzi has performed as a soloist with conductors including Fabio Luisi, Kristjan Järvi, Gerhard Markson, Andrew Litton, Hermann Breuer, Alfred Eschwé, Ola Rudner, Jesus Amigo, Giancarlo Andretta, Filip Bral, Thomas Briccetti, Mario Venzago, Michail Jurowski, Christian Kolonovits, Peter Keuschnig, Georg Mark, Gunnard Mattes, Arid Remmereit, Karolos Trikolidis, Kees Bakels, Simon Blech and Philippe Entremont.
As an orchestral musician, Orfeo Mandozzi was principal cellist of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, followed by 15 years as principal cellist of the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra. He worked for many years as a substitute at the Vienna State Opera and with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, where he worked with conductors such as Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haiting, Georg Solti, Pierre Boulez, Daniele Gatti, Horst Stein, George Pretre, Michael Halaz, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Fabio Luisi, Daniel Harding, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Franz Welser-Möst, Daniel Barenboim, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovich, Heinz Wallberg, Ralf Weikert and many more. performed with him.
As an arranger, Orfeo Mandozzi has written over 500 arrangements which have been commissioned and performed by renowned orchestras and chamber music ensembles worldwide.
In addition to his concert activities, Prof. Orfeo Mandozzi is an internationally sought-after teacher. He has held professorships at the Vienna Conservatory, the Würzburg University of Music and Art and currently at the Zurich University of the Arts and the Winterthur Conservatory. Year after year, the professor's students win prizes in national and international competitions as well as professorships and orchestral engagements.
Since 2012, Orfeo Mandozzi has been the artistic director of “Live music now” in Zurich, an association founded by Yehudi Menuhin that continues to bring music to people who have no opportunity to attend a concert. He has also been a member and coach at Musethica since 2015.
Orfeo Mandozzi plays a cello made by Francesco Ruggeri 1675 (Cremona).
About ICC Montfort: https://www.icc-montfort.com/
