Andrew Rayel

Andrew Rayel — born Andrei Rață in Chișinău, Moldova in 1992 — emerged in the early 2010s as one of the most precocious talents trance had ever produced. He started making music at thirteen, signed his first releases under the Andrew Rayel name in 2009, and by 2012 had been signed to Armin van Buuren's Armind imprint. Armin would later describe him as "the next Mozart of trance," and the comparison was not entirely hyperbolic — Rayel's productions are notable for their classical orchestration, complex chord progressions, and full-orchestra production values. His debut album Find Your Harmony (2014) announced him as a major force, with collaborations alongside Armin van Buuren ("EIFORYA") and a sweeping cinematic palette unmatched by his peers. Moments (2017) extended that ambition with vocal-led production and grandiose breakdowns. By the late 2010s he had launched his own Find Your Harmony radio show and label, expanding into the artist-development side of the business. Live, Rayel is among the genre's most theatrical performers — his sets at A State of Trance, Tomorrowland, and his own Find Your Harmony events are constructed like symphonic suites, with carefully arranged peaks and intermissions. He has consistently placed in the upper reaches of the DJ Mag Top 100 since the mid-2010s and is regularly cited alongside Armin and Andrew Bayer as one of the most musically literate producers working in trance today. Rayel is also notable for representing Moldova on a global stage — a country with a small electronic-music presence — and for using his platform to support emerging Eastern European artists through his label and inHarmony Music imprint. For listeners drawn to the orchestral, emotional end of the trance spectrum, his catalogue is essential.