ABOUT

Inna Onofrei (Saakova) is an Armenian-American composer, educator, and pianist based in the Cleveland area. A lifelong lover of both art and music, she originally sought to follow in her grandfather's footsteps as a visual artist. However, she discovered a new way to "paint" through sound, saying, “My hands are my brushes, sound is my paint, and air is my canvas.”

Her diverse body of work spans piano, choir, chamber ensembles, orchestra, voice, solo instruments, and electronic compositions.

Onofrei's music has been performed in Russia, the United States, Belgium, and Greece. Her compositions have earned recognition in competitions such as the Stavropol State Competition for Young Composers, the KatePublishing Composition Competition, and the HerVoice Composition Competition. Notably, one of her works, written in 1997 about her hometown of Nevinnomyssk, was adopted as the town's anthem.

Onofrei earned a Bachelor's Degree in Musical Theory and Composition from Stavropol State College of Arts in 2002. In 2011, she earned a Master's in Piano Performance from Cleveland State University, where she studied under Grammy-winning pianist Angelin Chang. She later pursued her passion for composition, earning a Master's of Music in Composition from CSU in 2018. Currently, she works as a freelance composer, arranger, and educator at Musicologie Cleveland Heights.

"The First was a setting of Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Lullaby" by Inna Onofrei. It's easy to see how the work would be favored: the cool, consonant harmonies and songlike refrain appeals to pop sensibilities and art purists. The setting by Cleveland Based, Armenian-American composer fits pleasingly into the contours of Tennyson's verse, underscoring the text's oscillating rhythm and upholstering it in a moody sonority."

Landon Hegedus, Chicago Classical Review