Ionas Mercadal

Ionas Mercadal Euler, born in 2003 in Sant Cugat del Vallès, hails from a family with deep musical roots. His musical journey began at the age of six when he took his first clarinet lessons from his father, Juanjo Mercadal. He continued his education at the Fusió music school in Sant Cugat before entering the Conservatori de Sant Cugat in the winter of 2014-2015, where he studied under Professor Clara Font. In the summer of 2019, Ionas completed his "Grado Professional" clarinet studies and graduated from the Conservatory of Sant Cugat del Vallès.

In the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years, he studied as a junior student at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) with Professor Josep Fuster. In October 2021, he began his bachelor's degree at the Leopold Mozart College at the University of Augsburg with Professor Harald Harrer, also taking regular lessons from Manfred Preis, former bass clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and David Schöndorfer of the Munich Symphony Orchestra. Since October 2024, Ionas has been continuing his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under the guidance of Professor Georg Arzberger.

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Since 2010, as a student of the German School in Barcelona (Abitur - High School Graduation 2021), Ionas regularly participated in the "Jugend musiziert" competition, receiving numerous first prizes on the national level (Spain/Portugal) as a soloist and in the category duo (clarinet and piano). In 2018 and 2021 he won 2nd prize in the Bundeswettbewerb in Germany (Lübeck and Bremen) in the category solo clarinet, and in 2019 he was also a prize winner in the category duo (clarinet and piano) in Halle. In January 2020, at the age of 17, he won the 1st prize in the "International Mozart Competition" in Tbilisi (Georgia) in the 17-20 year rating. It was the only first prize in the wind instruments category. In August 2020 he was awarded the "Assoluto Prize" of the competition "Internationaler Wettbewerb Musikalisches Feuerwerk Baden-Württemberg" in Karlsruhe (Germany), in November 2020 he was awarded the “First Prize” in the International Music Festival-Competition “Stars at Tenerife” (Canarias/Spain), in January 2021 he won the 3rd prize in the “Junior” category of the “1st International Online Clarinet Competition ‘Guy Deplus’, Gran Canaria”, in February 2021 he won the “First Prize” in "XII Savshinsky International Music Competition Saint Petersburg", Russia, in July 2021 he won the "First Prize" in "VIII Stockholm International Music Competition", Sweden, and in September 2022 he was laureate of First Prize and Special Diploma for the most artistic Сontestant of the 9th International Music Competition "Heirs of Orpheus" in Bulgaria. In January 2023, Ionas was selected for the CAREER PROJECT of the Tiziano Rossetti Academy in Switzerland, and in February of the same year he won First Prize at the 2nd International Online Music Competition in Lugano (Switzerland). In December 2023 he was awarded the "Grand Award" (the candidate who received the highest mark over all categories), two "Platinum Prizes" (Virtuoso and Woodwind categories) and the "Technical Mastery Special Award" at the "Universal Stars Music Competition". In the same month he also received a Competition Winner Platinum Prize (Wind instr., age 18-21) in the World Classical Music Awards. In April 2024 he was awarded third prize at the "Music International Grand Prix" in New York (Wind/Brass Adult category), on the same day he also received the second prize with Trio Somni (Ensemble category). In November 2024 he was honored with the "Platinum Prize" at the FENIX AWARD International Music Competition in Gdansk, Poland, and took first place in the Clarinet Category. In June 2025 he won the First Prize in the Clarinet Category E at the XII Stockholm International Music Competition (Online), the First Prize at the Golden Classical Music Awards International Music Competition in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1st Prize in the Clarinet Category VI at the Gold International Classical Music Competition (GICMC).

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