Inna Onofrei Composer
composer
From an early age, I envisioned a future following in my grandfather’s footsteps as a visual artist. Yet, as my creative journey unfolded, I discovered a more profound and resonant medium of expression—one that allowed me to paint not with pigments on canvas, but with sound that lingers and shapes the air itself. As I often reflect, “My hands are my brushes, sound is my paint, and air is my canvas.”
About
Inna Onofrei is an Armenian-American composer, pianist, and educator based in Cleveland. Her music spans piano, voice, choir, chamber ensembles, orchestra, and electronic media, with performances across the United States and Europe. She has received recognition from the Stavropol State Competition for Young Composers, KatePublishing, and the HerVoice Competition, and her 1997 composition for Nevinnomyssk was adopted as the city’s official anthem.​
Onofrei holds master’s degrees in piano performance and composition from Cleveland State University, where she studied with Grammy Award–winning pianist Angelin Chang. Dedicated to both artistry and education, she continues to create original works while inspiring students through piano, composition, and theory.
Featured Composition
Fire and Ice is an electroacoustic composition that blends solo piano with electronics and visual media, drawing inspiration from Robert Frost’s iconic poem of the same name. In his concise yet profound text, Frost contemplates the destructive power of human emotions—desire and hatred—symbolized by fire and ice. These opposing forces serve as both poetic metaphor and structural foundation for this work.