A fascinating personality of the international music scene, Ion Marin is one of few conductors to work on the highest level in both the symphonic and operatic domains. He is a regular guest at the world’s major opera houses and has conducted virtually all the great European orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Since 2014/15, he holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Hamburger Symphoniker.
Maestro Marin’s discography of over 40 titles, released on Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI, Sony and Philips, has earned him three Grammy nominations, the Diapason d’Or and the German Recording Critics’ Award. In 2012 he received the ECHO Klassik award in the Bestseller category. Soloists he regularly appears with include Martha Argerich, Yo-Yo Ma, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Maxim Vengerov, Gidon Kremer, Hélène Grimaud, Placido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu, Renée Fleming and a number of other leading instrumentalists and singers. He has also worked with luminaries such as Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich and Alexis Weissenberg.
Born in Romania, Ion Marin studied composition, piano and conducting at the George Enescu Music Academy and at Salzburg’s Mozarteum. In 1986 he defected from Romania’s dictatorship and started a new life in Vienna, where he became Resident Conductor of the Wiener Staatsoper during Claudio Abbado’s tenure (1987-1991) and also benefited from the guidance of Herbert von Karajan and Carlos Kleiber.
