Photo: Kaupo Kikkas

Jonian Ilias Kadesha

Jonian Ilias Kadesha is a Renaissance musician in the diversity and creativity of his intellectual interests and music-making. His studies in philosophy and rhetoric influence the stylistic accuracy of his interpretations, whether of early or contemporary music, and his rich imagination is clear both in the sound worlds he creates and the projects he curates as soloist, player–director and chamber musician.​

As a soloist he has performed throughout Europe, including with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Sir András Schiff, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic with Jonathan Bloxham, Tapiola Sinfonietta and Ryan Bancroft and Slovenian Philharmonic conducted by Aziz Shokhakimov. He has given recitals in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Louvre, Berlin Philharmonie and Salle Moliere Lyon.​

Kadesha is a committed chamber musician, collaborating with renowned musicians such as Martha Argerich, Steven Isserlis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Nicolas Altstaedt and Antje Weithaas. He is co-founder of the award-winning Trio Gaspard, which regularly appears at festivals and venues around the world. He is also a member of the Kelemen Quartet.​

He is increasingly in demand with leading chamber orchestras as play/director and has worked with the Netherlands, Irish and Scottish Chamber Orchestras, Aurora Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and London Mozart Players. His approach to the classical orchestral canon is informed by his chamber music playing and he often improvises his own cadenzas and ornamentation.​

Kadesha’s curiosity for repertoire is wide-ranging as demonstrated by recordings he has made for Linn Records to which he signed in 2021. His debut solo album featured Bach’s Partita in D minor alongside the premiere commercial recording of Helena Winkelman’s Ciaccona and works by Biber, Schnittke, Kurtág and Auerbach. His follow-up recording will be released in 2024 and includes the premiere recording of Giovanni Sollima’s violin concerto TYCHE with CHAARTS Chamber Artists. With pianist Nicholas Rimmer he recorded works by Enescu, Ravel and Skalkottas for Cavi Music and with cellist Vashti Hunter he recorded a disc of violin and cello repertoire in collaboration with Deutschland Radio.​

In 2017 Kadesha founded and assumed the role of Artistic Director of the Caerus Chamber Ensemble, a flexible chamber ensemble made up of outstanding instrumentalists from the young generation of European musicians.​

Born in Athens of Albanian and Greek heritage, Kadesha studied from a young age at Musikhochschule Wurzburg, followed by Kronberg Academy, where he completed his Masters in 2020. He has studied with Antje Weithaas, Salvatore Accardo, Grigori Zhislin and Ulf Wallin. He studied chamber music with Hatto Beyerle in Hannover and has taken part in masterclasses with Ferenc Rados, Steven Isserlis, Ivry Gitlis, Leonidas Kavakos and Eberhard Feltz.​

Kadesha plays on the ”ex-Moser” Guarneri de Gesu of 1743, kindly on loan by the private ”Princess Collection”. He is also an exclusive Pirastro artist.