About
Born in Craiova (Romania) in 1980, Mr. Ignat is one of the leading Romanian conductors of his generation. He is currently serving as Principal Conductor of the Romanian National Opera House of Timisoara, Music Director of the City of Elche Symphony Orchestra (Spain). Between 2018 and 2020 Mihnea Ignat was Principal Guest Conductor of the Romanian National Opera of Bucharest (Romania). Between 2005 and 2017 Mr. Ignat has served as Music Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Alicante (Spain) and also Associated Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic during the 2009/2010 season.
In October 2010, Mr. Ignat was awarded the Special Prize of the Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra in the “A. Toscanini” International Conducting Competition held in Parma (Italy). He has also been a semifinalist in the "D. Flick" International Conducting Competition (London, 2008) and also in the "G. Solti" International Conducting Competition (Frankfurt, 2008).
Between 2009 and 2014 he worked as assistant to Maestro D. Kitajenko with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra or the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He has also been assistant to Maestro Jesús López Cobos and Maestro Josep Pons.
Among the orchestras Mr. Ignat has been invited to conduct there are orchestras such as the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Madrid (Spain), the Irish National Symphony Orchestra (RTÉ), the Romanian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of the Romanian Radio, the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville (Spain), the "G. Enescu"Philharmonic Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra (Parma, Italy), the Castilla and León Symphony Orchestra (Valladolid, Spain), the Royal Philharmonic of Galicia (Santiago de Compostela, Spain), the Philharmonic Orchestra of Málaga, the Symphony Orchestra of Murcia, the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, the "Freixenet" Symphony Orchestra of the School of Music "Reina Sofía" of Madrid (Spain) and most of the symphony orchestras of his native country, Romania.
A notable opera conductor Mr. Ignat has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Romanian National Opera House (Bucharest, Romania) in 2018. Recent highlights that cemented his reputation as an operatic conductor includes conducting the new production of Verdi’ Otello at the Romanian National Opera House with the stage direction of Giancarlo del Monaco and the acclaimed new production of Pergolesi' La Serva Padrona with the stage direction of Silviu Purcarete. He regularly conducts titles such as Nabucco, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Carmen, Rigoletto, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, L’Elisir d’Amore, Madama Butterfly, The Marriage of Figaro among others.
Mihnea Ignat has accompanied on stage great soloists such as Juan Diego Flórez, Jerome Lowenthal, John O'Conor, Stefan Milenkovich, Ning Feng, Celine Byrne, Liviu Prunaru, Lina Tur Bonet, Renata Pokupic, Ilana Vered, Miguel Ángel Estrella, Viktor Derevianko, Alexandru Tomescu, Erzhan Kulibaev among others.
Mr. Ignat graduated as an orchestra conductor with the highest distinctions at the National University of Music in Bucharest (Romania), where he has also studied composition. He has subsequently obtained the Master in Orchestra Conducting at the same university under the direction of the renowned Romanian conductor Horia Andreescu.
“...a scintillating account of the Intermezzo from Puccini's Manon Lescaut. Long- phrased, highly coloured and astonishingly intense, it elicited roars of approval from the audience.”
Martin Adams, The Irish Times
