Cristian Măcelaru, artistic director of the International Competition and Festival „George Enescu,” will conduct the Orchestre National de France at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games to be held in Paris.
„I never believed in my life that I would have this opportunity. It’s a very beautiful thing because it’s an event where we all seem to forget about the things that separate us and remember the beauty of the things that help us come together,” said Cristian Măcelaru on TVR Info.
Cristian Măcelaru first caught international attention in 2012 when he appeared at the helm of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, replacing Pierre Boulez.
That same year, he received the "Solti Emerging Conductor Award" for young conductors, a prestigious distinction awarded only once in the foundation's history, followed in 2014 by the "Solti Conducting Award."
Since then, he has regularly conducted concerts with some of the top American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra.
The renowned Romanian conductor made his debut at Carnegie Hall in February 2015, in a program with the National Symphony Orchestra of Denmark and Anne-Sophie Mutter.
A passionate opera conductor, in June 2015 he led the Cincinnati Opera in highly acclaimed performances of "Il Trovatore."
In 2010, he made his opera debut with the Houston Grand Opera in "Madama Butterfly" and conducted the American premiere of Colin Matthews' opera "Turning Point" with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra at the Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival.
In 2019, he returned to the Houston Grand Opera for a production by Kasper Holten of "Don Giovanni."
In Europe, Măcelaru has been in high demand as a guest conductor with numerous renowned orchestras and festivals, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Berlin German Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham City Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.