CRISTIAN MĂCELARU
CONDUCTOR
“He is the most insightful and serious young conductor out there today.”
Photo credit: Ben Knabe
GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Cristian Măcelaru is the Music Director Designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where he leads his inaugural season as Music Director in 2025/26. Măcelaru holds the titles of Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival and Competition, Music Director of the Orchestre National de France, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ World Youth Symphony Orchestra, Music Director and Conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and Chief Conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, where he will serve through the 2024/25 season and continue as Artistic Partner for the 2025/26 season.
Măcelaru recently appeared at the Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony which was broadcast to 1.5 billion viewers worldwide. He led the Orchestre National de France and Chœur de Radio France in the performance of the Olympic Anthem as the Olympic Flag was raised beneath the Eiffel Tower. Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France continue their 2024/25 season in tours throughout France, Germany, South Korea and China as well as a series of concerts in Paris celebrating the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth.
2024/25 marks Măcelaru’s final season as Chief Conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester, which he leads in a tour of Germany including performances in Cologne and Munich. Guest appearances include Măcelaru’s debuts with the Oslo Philharmonic and RAI National Symphony Orchestra of Turin as well as returns with the Wiener Symphoniker, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in Europe. North American returns include the Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Măcelaru’s previous seasons include European engagements with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Berlin and Budapest Festival Orchestra. In North America, he has led the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra. Măcelaru maintains an especially close collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he previously held the position of Conductor-in-Residence for three seasons. He is equally at home as a conductor of opera, including productions of Don Giovanni with the Houston Grand Opera and Madama Butterfly with Opera Națională București.
In 2020, Măcelaru received a GRAMMY® Award for conducting the Decca Classics recording of Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has released an array of albums including the complete symphonies of Saint-Saëns on Warner Classics with the Orchestre National de France as well as albums featuring works by Bartók and Dvořák on Linn Records with the WDR Sinfonieorchester. Măcelaru’s Linn Records album, Brahms: Piano Concertos with Simon Trpčeski and the WDR Sinfonieorchester, was featured in Classic FM’s November 2023 “Album of the Week” as well as BBC Music Magazine’s January 2024 “Concerto Choice.” His highly anticipated recording of Enescu’s Symphonies 1-3 and the composer’s two Romanian Rhapsodies with the Orchestre National de France was released in April 2024 on Deutsche Grammophon. The album was featured on WRTI’s June 2024 “Best Classical Music Albums Released in 2024 (So Far)”.
He also makes a great effort to open classical music to a broader audience through accessibility and education. In his role as Chief Conductor with the WDR Sinfonieorchester, he created the ensemble’s Kurz und Klassic program, in which he shares personal insight into each of the major compositions chosen for performance. This video series has built a significant following, a testament to Măcelaru's continued impact in bringing audiences closer to the music. With the Orchestre National de France, he created a new series of concerts, L’œuvre augmentée, conceived to deepen patrons’ appreciation of the music by offering insights into the themes and backgrounds of the works presented. Most recently, in his Artistic Director role with the George Enescu Festival and Competition, Măcelaru has created a new series of concerts for children as part of an initiative to enrich and modernize the festival. Emphasizing contemporary compositions, these programs enhance listeners’ appreciation of the music while promoting social values of equality, empowerment and diversity. He has also increased invitations for women conductors and implemented mental and physical well-being sessions for Competition participants. Through a historic collaboration with organizations including Romania’s Special Olympics, Măcelaru and the Festival are striving to modernize Romania’s concert halls to make them more accessible. For the 2024 George Enescu International Competition, Măcelaru and competition organizers received a record-breaking 555 applications from 57 countries.
A champion of commissioning and premiering the music of today, Mӑcelaru has commissioned premieres from 52 composers across his titled positions in Paris, Cologne and Cabrillo. This illustrious group of composers includes Wynton Marsalis, Tan Dun, Gabriela Lena Frank, Jennifer Higdon, Jake Heggie, Nico Muhly, Sean Shepherd and Gabriella Smith.
Măcelaru devotes significant time to mentoring young musicians in his capacity as an educator, continuing the great legacy of the Cabrillo Conductors / Composers Workshop that brings together the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and leading faculty with early career conductors and composers for a professional training program focused on the creation and performance of new music. He also holds annual conducting masterclasses in Timisoara with the Romanian Chamber Orchestra and each year calls for scores from young Romanian composers. More than 40 compositions thus far have been written through this initiative. This season, Măcelaru will also work with young musicians during his residency at the Kronberg Academy in Germany.
Măcelaru was born in Timișoara, Romania and comes from a musical family. As the youngest of ten children, all of whom received instrumental lessons at an early age, Măcelaru excelled on the violin. His studies took him from Romania to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, University of Miami in Florida and Rice University in Houston, where he studied conducting with Larry Rachleff. He then deepened his knowledge at Tanglewood Music Center and Aspen Music Festival in masterclasses with David Zinman, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Oliver Knussen and Stefan Asbury.
Măcelaru was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Miami Symphony Orchestra and made his Carnegie Hall debut with that orchestra at the age of 19. He also played in the first violin section of the Houston Symphony for two seasons. His international career was launched in 2012 when he was asked to step in for Pierre Boulez with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. During that same year, he received the Solti Emerging Conductor Award, followed by the Solti Conducting Award in 2014.
Nicola continues to hold key positions in a number of the country’s most established and high-quality youth music organisations including the National Children’s Orchestras (Vice President), Sistema Scotland (Big Sister), National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (Patron), Music in Secondary Schools’ Trust (Patron), National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (Ambassador) and many more. In 2022, Nicola became Honorary President of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she is also Patron of the Junior Conservatoire.
An exclusive Decca (Universal Music) artist, Nicola has an impressive and varied catalogue. Her recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto entered at number one in the UK’s Official Classical Album Chart and received critical acclaim including a 5* review in The Times: “Yet beyond sheer agility, Benedetti offers listeners something even more valuable: a dynamic personal interpretation, refreshing and convincing.” Other recent recordings include Baroque (July 2021) which features Nicola on gut-strings play-directing the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra; the album reached number one in the UK’s Official Classical Album Chart and received another 5* review in The Times. In 2020, Nicola won a GRAMMY Award for “Best Classical Instrumental Solo” for the album “Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin” written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis. Other recordings include works from Shostakovich and Glazunov with the London Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding to Homecoming; A Scottish Fantasy, which made Nicola the first solo British violinist since the 1990s to enter the Top 20 of the Official UK Album Chart. In 2021, BBC Music Magazine named her “Personality of the Year” and the RPS gave her the “Instrumentalist Award” for her work as an artist, educator and advocate for her online support of many young musicians during the pandemic.
In March 2022, Nicola became the Director Designate of the Edinburgh International Festival, becoming Festival Director on 1 October 2022. In taking the role, Nicola is both the first Scottish and the first female Festival Director since the Festival began in 1947.
Nicola was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours list, awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2017, the youngest ever recipient, and was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2013 in recognition of her international music career and work with musical charities throughout the United Kingdom. In addition, Nicola has received nine honorary degrees to date.
Nicola plays the Gariel Stradivarius (1717), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.
“All pieces felt new under Cristian Macelaru. The conductor was quite the hero … This Appalachian Spring was the most convincing performance I’ve heard.”
“Cristian Macelaru led with panache and intensity. He is dynamic and intense on the podium. He proved an ideal interpreter.”
“Macelaru is the real McCoy. He has presence without being showy. He has a fine sense of sweep and structure. In page after page, he brought detail into focus. The majesty of the first movement, not overstated, was pellucid in its direction. In the heavenly slow movement, Time was suspended. And the finale was a musical life force. Let’s get this conductor back while we can afford him.”
“Cristian Macelaru made his Cleveland Orchestra debut with a momentous account of Holst’s ‘The Planets’. Talk about planetary alignment. In Macelaru’s performance, all the elements of a vivid and engaging experience were firmly in place, and the impact, musically speaking, was as wide and deep as a large meteor strike. Contrast ran high throughout the performance. Holst’s seven planetary portraits always stand apart from each other, but in Macelaru’s rendering, the musical distance between movements was enormous. Light years versus miles. “Mars” was an intimidating show of force, a rousing display of orchestral unity. Later came “Jupiter,” where Macelaru, music director of California’s Cabrillo Festival, treated the music with cinematic sweep and the horns made robust and noble contributions. “Saturn” and “Neptune” represented the best of the two worlds. Macelaru shaped as a grand crescendo, building up to an irrepressible surge by the subtlest of degrees. The latter, meanwhile, he removed from all time and place; for those moments, there was nothing but radiant strings and the ravishing, disembodied voices of the women in the Blossom Festival Chorus.”
“The conductor, who impressed last summer when he conducted Cincinnati Opera’s “Il Trovatore,” impressed once again in Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations. This work, which concluded the evening, was given as fresh and inspired a performance as one could want. Each of the 14 variations – in which a friend of Elgar’s is depicted – had distinctive character, ranging from delicate to blustery. The musicians responded to the conductor’s leadership with polished, expressive playing. Of course, its heart is the “Nimrod” Variation. Here, the conductor began almost imperceptibly, and allowed the music to unfold simply, to its noble climax. The effect was quite moving.”
“What makes Macelaru impressive is the huge sound he gets from the orchestra. He sought boldness, as though wrapping the hall in a thick, heavy velvet Rachmaninoff bow that implied a gift of some extravagance and possibly decadence. For the Symphonic Dances, Macelaru further increased the dosage of orchestra steroids. Even so, details came through well. The rich string playing and wind playing may have been inspired by Macelaru’s work with the Philadelphia Orchestra; the brass blowout had the Chicago Symphony written all over it. The L.A. Phil responded spectacularly.”
“Wednesday’s first installment offered the impressive Romanian-born conductor Cristian Macelaru in an auspicious Philharmonic debut, beginning the program with a weighty, surging account of the 1909 tone poem “The Isle of the Dead.”
“Macelaru and the orchestra delivered two nights of fiery, tender and technically excellent music-making. The level of passion and precision achieved on a tight rehearsal schedule was remarkable.”
“Macelaru delivered each movement with close attention and sharp intuition.”
“A conductor whose successes transcended many borders in recent years.”
“Macelaru offered nothing short of a master class.”
“His technical skill and his ear for details turned the overall performance into a pleasant and rewarding experience.”