A native of Bucharest, Romania, Ms. Mateescu completed her Bachelor's in Music at the National University of Music in Bucharest, to include a year of study at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She completed her Master's and postgraduate Konzertexamen at the Musikhochschule in Mainz. Ms. Mateescu joined the Junges Ensemble at the Staatstheater Mainz in 2008 where she made her first debuts on stage to much critical acclaim. Ileana Mateescu made her 2012 debuts at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris performing the role of Anastasio in Vivaldi's “Il Giustino” under Stefano Molardi and the baroque orchestra Virtuosi delle Muse. During her postgraduate studies in Mainz, Ms. Mateescu became a member of the Oper Dortmund ensemble.

Since her debut in 2011/12 season she has performed defining mezzosoprano roles such as Carmen in „Carmen”, Angelina in “La Cenerentola”, Octavian in “Der Rosenkavalier”, Ottone in “L'Incoronazione di Poppea”, Fjodor in “Boris Godunov”, Cherubino in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, Dorabella in “Cosi fan tutte”, Hänsel in “Hänsel and Gretel” (Humperdinck), Rinaldo in “Rinaldo” (Händel), Ronja in “Ronja Räubertochter” (Arnecke) and Olga in “Eugen Onegin” (Tchaikovsky). Ileana Mateescu has received several awards, among them the Bajazzo Preis of the Theater- und Konzertfreunde Dortmund. She has worked with conductors such as Markus Stenz, Gabriel Feltz, Rasmus Baumann, Michael Hofstetter and Jac van Steen and with such stage directors as Peer Boysen, Jens-Daniel Herzog, Katharina Thoma and Cristian Mihăilescu.

With the foundation of the International Opera Studio NRW Ileana Mateescu changed her focus on the work behind the stage. She is in charge of the organisation and support of the young singers.