Alexei Romanenko, Cello

Biography

Russian-born cellist Alexei Romanenko has been hailed by the Boston Herald : "the times
when music and musician and musical instrument combine to form an almost
mystical union are rare.  One such occasion came when Alexei Romanenko dazzled with his playing of Zoltan Kodaly's Sonata for solo cello."

Beginning his cello studies at the age of six, Mr. Romanenko won First Prize in the Far-Eastern Competition when he was twelve.  He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and was awarded top prize in the Gnesina College Cello Competition.  Arriving in
the United States in 1998, he completed an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory of Music under Bernard Greenhouse and Laurence Lesser. In 1999, he was First Prize at the 8th International Music Competition in Vienna, and in 2000 was awarded First Prize at the 2nd Web Concert Hall International Auditions.

Mr. Romanenko appeared in 2009 in Vivaldi's Double Concerto with cellist Matt Haimvovitz in the "Cellobration" concert presented by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.  In recent seasons he has performed in such venues as Boston's Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, and at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC.  He has been heard on the "Voice of America" in Russia, Atlanta's WABE, and Boston's
WGBH Radio "Classical Performances". In 2005, he was the featured soloist in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations during the "Greenhouse Celebration" dedicated to the 90th birthday of legendary American Cellist Bernard Greenhouse.  In addition to his busy international performing schedule, Mr. Romanenko is also an accomplished church organist.