Cristian Măcelaru speaks with IPR on first in-person season as Interlochen's WYSO Artistic Director and Principal Conductor

IPR's music director Amanda Sewell speaks with Cristian Măcelaru, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Interlochen’s WYSO (Photo credit: IPR)

”We need to represent the 21st century”: Cristian Măcelaru on this week's ”Les préludes” concert
Interlochen Public Radio | By Amanda Sewell
August 5, 2021

The Grammy Award-winning conductor talks about leading the ensemble of which he was once the concertmaster and about being just the sixth person in history to take the baton for ”Les préludes.”

In the fall of 2019, Cristian Măcelaru was named the inaugural Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Interlochen's World Youth Symphony Orchestra.

His first summer in the role was completely different than he was expecting. ”I think 2020 went differently than we all could have imagined,” he says.

This summer, Măcelaru is finally at the helm of WYSO in person.

One of the most important parts of his role, he says, is ”finding the right opportunities to experience the widest variety of music that is actually representative of the twenty-first century.”

To that end, this summer's three WYSO concerts have included pieces by many living composers.

Măcelaru walked IPR's listeners through the music for this Sunday's WYSO program, which has pieces by living composers Anna Clyne and Huang Ruo. 

The program also includes the 1919 "Firebird" suite by Igor Stravinsky as well as Franz Liszt's ”Les préludes.”

Tune in Sunday evening to hear him lead WYSO in its final performance of the summer. The broadcast begins at 7 p.m., with the concert downbeat at 7:30.

To read the full article and listen to his conversation with Classical IPR, click here.