Cristian Măcelaru, Music Director, Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair
Grammy-winning conductor Cristian Măcelaru is Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Orchestre National de France, Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival and Competition, 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 Distinguished Visiting Artist at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He also is Artistic Partner of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, where he served as Chief Conductor from the 2019–20 through 2024–25 seasons.
2025–26 marks Măcelaru’s inaugural season as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where his programming reflects his expansive artistic vision and dedication to both tradition and innovation. Măcelaru launches the season with a blended program of classical masterworks and contemporary pieces, pairing George Gershwin’s Concerto in F, featuring pianist Hélène Grimaud, with Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier Suite and Anna Clyne's Abstractions. In March 2026, Măcelaru and the Interlochen Center for the Arts embark on a tour celebrating the upcoming centennial of Interlochen and the 250th anniversary of American independence, with concerts beginning at the Center’s home in Interlochen, Michigan, and continuing through Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston. Students will perform a program featuring a new cello concerto by Wynton Marsalis, with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist.
With the George Enescu International Festival, Măcelaru curates a four-week concert schedule highlighting world-class orchestras in multiple international premieres and interpretations of classical music’s finest repertoire. He conducts the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra in the festival’s opening-night concert in August 2025. Beginning at the festival, Măcelaru conducts the Orchestre National de France on a tour through Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria, featuring violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. In November, Orchestre National de France embarks on a three-night tour in the United States with pianist Daniil Trifonov, culminating in an appearance at Carnegie Hall. In another Enescu Festival highlight, Măcelaru conducts the WDR Sinfonieorchester in a concert performance of Strauss’ Salome. Later in the season, he conducts the orchestra in three concert programs in Cologne and across western Germany. Măcelaru’s guest engagements include debuts with the Münchner Philharmoniker and Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, as well as returns with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Czech Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony.
Măcelaru’s previous seasons include European engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Berlin, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In North America, he has led the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, 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, with career highlights 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 recordings featuring works by Bartók, Dvořák and Rachmaninoff 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 won the 2024 Diapason d’Or of the Year and 2024 Choc Classica of the Year, and was featured on WRTI’s June 2024 “Best Classical Music Albums Released in 2024 (So Far).” September 2025 marks the release of Măcelaru’s and the Orchestre National de France’s Ravel Paris 2025 album on the naïve label, featuring the symphonic works of Maurice Ravel in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Măcelaru is dedicated to opening 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.
With the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Măcelaru has helped nurture the collaborative spirit underlying the festival’s core mission. Using his leadership role as a platform for engagement, he has brought artists, audience members and festival executives into a shared creative process through open rehearsals and interaction with the composers in residence. Through the Cabrillo Emerging Black Composers Prize, Măcelaru and Cabrillo have partnered with the Emerging Black Composers Project, a 10-year commitment to spotlight early-career Black American composers and their music.
A champion of commissioning and premiering the music of today, Măcelaru has commissioned premieres from over 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 Timișoara 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 past season, Măcelaru also worked 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 10 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.