Commended by European musical critics and newspapers as
"extremely talented, with unbelievable energy and technique"
"with an unrepeatable taste in music"
"breaking the limits of accordion"
"Overwhelming the audience with his mastery combining music with his soul"
Radu Ratoi is one of the world`s leading accordion player
Praised for his originality, versatility, virtuosity in the Classical and contemporary repertoire,
Radu is the winner of the most important accordion competitions. Also, he holds one of the most
important Art Award in the Republic of Moldova "Master in Arts" offered by the president of the country, Maia Sandu, for outstanding achievements.
One of his specific characteristic that makes him unique and precious, is the way he combines two important musical traditions: the Russian school,
and the West European school, melting them in a very personal style.
Playing solo and chamber, having collaborations with various artists and orchestras, Radu is giving
unbelievable concerts worldwide, attracting the public with his musicality, technique and charisma.
Since 2024, Radu was appointed as a soloist with The National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova.
Radu Ratoi (b. 20.09.1998) started accordion at the age of 6, felling inspired since his first lesson. Radu describes the
accordion as "an instrument with almost unlimited possibilities". That we can also see on stage – people who know already
Radu's style, are always amazed by his way of playing and feeling the accordion. His main goal is to prove the world that
the accordion is underestimated and has unthinkable possibilities in all the musical genres. With his transcriptions of
J.S.Bach, D.Scarlatti, J.P.Rameau, F.Liszt and many more, he reinvented and improved the accordion repertoire.
Ratoi's stage career started already at 7 years old, being on stage for concerts and contests. He attended "Alexei Starcea" School of Arts
in his hometown, Chisinau, in the Republic of Moldova, afterwards he continued his undergraduate studies at the Centre of Excellence in Artistic Education
"Stefan Neaga", in the same city. Being still in Moldova, he started to participate in international well-known competitions. At 18 years old, he won
most of them in Junior categories, such as Coupe Mondiale, Trophy Mondiale, Castelfidardo , etc. He won these competitions both in Classical Music
categories and in Virtuoso/Entertainment Music categories, being the first who achieved both these titles. In 2018 he got the "Excellence Diploma"
from the President of the Republic of Moldova. As a paramount gratification for his professional activity, he won the Soning Music Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in Denmark.
Next step in his path was "The Royal Danish Academy of Music" in Copenhagen, Denmark. Between 2018 to 2020,
he won the 6 most important competitions in the world – Coupe Mondiale, Klinghenthal Accordion Competition, Trophy Mondiale, Arrasate Accordion Competition,
PIF Castelfidardo, and Moscow Accordion Competition . This was a worldwide performance, being the first and only one who won all these awards in Classical and Entertainment
Music. In total, until now he won more than 60 national and international awards.
In 2022 he received one of the most important Moldavian National Distinctions "Master in Arts" offered by the President of Republic Moldova.
Radu released his accordion CD "Greatest Organ Works arranged for Accordion" in 2022, recording pieces by J.S.Bach and F.Liszt.
In his stellar career as soloist he performed in some of the most important concert halls in the world: Berlin Philharmonic, Radio Concert House Copenhagen,
Victoria Concert Hall, Tivoli Hall Copenhagen, Aram Khachaturian's Concert Hall in Yerevan, Harbin Concert Hall and many others.