GRAMMY Award winning conductor Cristian Măcelaru is Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival and Competition, Music Director of the Orchestre National de France, Chief Conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ World Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director and Conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.
At the 2023 George Enescu Festival, his inaugural season as Artistic Director, Măcelaru leads the George Enescu Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester and Orchestre National de France alongside the Romanian Youth Orchestra. Additional 2023/24 season highlights include Măcelaru’s debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra and return engagements with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to their regular performances in Paris, Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France will tour to Spain and Austria and also perform at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. This season, he will also tour in China and South Korea with the WDR Sinfonieorchester.
Măcelaru’s previous seasons include European engagements with the Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, 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, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he was Conductor-in-Residence for three seasons.