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About
Andrei Riazantsev is a Russian clarinetist and a student of Professor François Benda at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, where he is currently enrolled in the Master of Arts in Specialized Performance – Soloist programme. His musical path brings together the Moscow performing tradition, a period of study in the United States with Charles Neidich, and his current professional development in Switzerland.
Andrei graduated with distinction from the Moscow Gnessin Special School of Music in 2020, completing studies in both clarinet and piano. At the Gnessin School, he received a strong professional foundation in both disciplines. His first piano teacher was Irina Rodzevich, a student of Elena Gnesina; through his studies with her, Andrei became connected to a pedagogical lineage reaching back to the origins of the school itself.
An important role in his development as a young musician was played by his contact with outstanding musicians of the older generation. Among those who followed his growth closely were Rafael Bagdasaryan, Igor Fedorov and Dmitri Bashkirov. These encounters became part of an environment in which Andrei was listened to, remembered, supported and treated with genuine professional seriousness from an early age.
Since the age of 12 he has been actively involved in concerts.
One of Andrei’s first significant international victories was his success at the 51st Concertino Praga International Radio Competition, which played an important role in his early professional development. This achievement brought him his first international concert invitations, broadened his stage experience and became an important step towards professional recognition while he was still a young musician.
Andrei is also a prizewinner and participant of a number of other competitions, including the International Gnessin Music Competition, the Nutcracker International Television Competition for Young Musicians, the Blue Bird All-Russian Competition for Young Talents, the Rotary International Music Competition and others.
After graduating from the Gnessin School, Andrei continued his studies in the United States at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with the distinguished clarinetist and pedagogue Charles Neidich. He was later admitted to The Juilliard School with a scholarship. The American period became an important part of his professional formation.
Andrei later continued his studies in Switzerland at the Hochschule für Musik Basel in the class of Professor François Benda, one of the most respected clarinetists and pedagogues of his generation. In June 2025, he completed the Bachelor of Arts in Music programme in Basel and continued his studies in the Master of Arts in Specialized Performance – Soloist programme.
In recent years, at a new stage of his development in Europe, Andrei has returned to competition activity in a more mature professional context. In 2025, he participated in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, received the Rahn Kulturfonds Award and won the Special Prize of the Sinfonietta Bern Open Call in the woodwind category. Since 2024, Andrei has been an artist of Henri SELMER Paris.
Over the course of his performing career, Andrei has appeared in leading venues in Russia and Europe, including the Great Hall of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Small and Rachmaninov Halls of the Moscow Conservatory, Zaryadye Concert Hall, the Moscow International House of Music, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Smetana Hall in Prague, the Wiener Konzerthaus, Stadtcasino Basel, Tonhalle Zürich, KKL Luzern, the Berliner Philharmonie, as well as other venues in the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Current Profile and Current Focus
As a soloist, Andrei has performed with a number of orchestras and ensembles, including the Russian National Orchestra, the Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Menuhin Academy Soloists and Kammerorchester Basel.
Alongside his solo activity, Andrei has significant orchestral experience. One of his first important orchestral stages was his participation in the All-Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Bashmet, of whose core line-up he has been a member since 2018. In recent seasons, he has also taken part in projects with City Light Orchestra and EMPYREAN Orchestra.
Andrei has participated in various festivals and projects in Russia and Europe, including Concertino Praga, January Evenings, Winteravonden aan de Amstel, Junior Music Tour, New Opera World, the Yuri Bashmet Festival in Sochi and others. Among his recent appearances is his participation in the Les Primeurs Musicales festival in Geneva.
A separate place in his current activities is occupied by the Interfinity Festival in Basel, where Andrei is involved in the festival’s organisational and project work. This experience allows him to see the musical process more broadly — not only from the performer’s perspective, but also from the perspective of creating programmes, artistic ideas and festival projects.
Today, one of Andrei’s main artistic goals is to broaden the perception of the clarinet as a solo instrument. He strives for the clarinet to be heard on the concert stage not as a rare exception, but alongside the violin, cello and other instruments with an established solo tradition. In his programmes, Andrei presents the clarinet to audiences through its history and versatility.
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