CristianMăcelaru
- Conductor


About Cristian
Music Director, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Music Director, Orchestre National de France Artistic Director, George Enescu International Festival and Competition Music Director, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, World Youth Symphony Orchestra, Interlochen Center for the Arts Artistic Partner, WDR Sinfonieorchester
Cristian Măcelaru’s 2025/26 season highlights include debuts with the Münchner Philharmoniker and Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, as well as return engagements with the Tonhalle Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Philharmonia Orchestras. He has also worked with the Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Wiener Symphoniker and London Philharmonic.
In North America, he has led the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestras.
His latest recording is of Enescu Symphonies with the Orchestre National de France on Deutsche Grammophon. September 2025 marks the release of 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.
Contact
For availability and general enquiries:

Alison Nethsingha

Celia Willis
For contracts, logistics and press:

Hannah Reid Dick
Representation
General Management: Askonas Holt
North and South America: Primo Artists
Season Highlights
News
Press
Măcelaru conducts Brahms with Simon Trpceski and WDR Sinfonieorchester
Linn RecordsNov 2023"Here under Măcelaru we’re offered a perfectly judged opening, powerful in tone, with brass backed by timps, railing strings, the sombre-sounding second subject illuminated from the inside."
- Gramophone
- 01 December 2023
Măcelaru conducts Berg's Violin Concert with Orchestre National de France
ParisNov 2023The truth is that Măcelaru knew how to conduct the French National Orchestra with the chamber music that Berg's score requires. And also pamper, envelop without overwhelming, the soloist.
- Mundo Clasico
- 20 November 2023
Cristian Măcelaru performs with Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo
Auditorium Rainier III de Monte CarloJan 2022Sa venue en Principauté n’est pas passée inaperçue. Il a transcendé l’orchestre. His arrival in the Principality did not go unnoticed. He transcended the orchestra. En effet, l’interprétation que nous a donnée de cette symphonie Cristian Măcelaru nous a procuré un total bonheur. Il nous a entraînés avec jubilation dans les tours et détours de cette symphonie pleine de surprises, aux élans sans cesse renouvelés – cette œuvre qui a des allures de conte et donne l’impression de nous raconter une succession de belles histoires. Cristian Măcelaru a ménagé maints suspens, a coloré l’œuvre de mille nuances, a suscité des pianissimos infimes et des fortissimos tonitruants dans lesquels l’orchestre avait une parfaite cohésion. Cristian Măcelaru's interpretation of this symphony gave us total happiness. He took us with glee through the twists and turns of this symphony full of surprises, with its constantly renewed impulses - this work that has the appearance of a tale and gives the impression of telling us a succession of beautiful stories. Cristian Măcelaru created many suspenseful moments, coloured the work with a thousand shades of colour, and produced minute pianissimos and thunderous fortissimos in which the orchestra was perfectly cohesive.
- Concerto Net
- 15 January 2022
La direction tendue et énergique de Cristian Măcelaru, frénétique par moments, est excellente. Cristian Măcelaru's taut and energetic conducting, frenetic at times, is excellent. Cristian Măcelaru fait danser l'orchestre et tous les instruments sont mis en valeur. Cristian Măcelaru makes the orchestra dance, and all the instruments are highlighted.
- Crescendo
- 18 January 2022
Saint-Saëns: Complete Symphonies with Orchestre National de France (CD release)
Nov 2021...soulignons l’extraordinaire subtilité de la direction de Măcelaru, son sens des nuances, la souplesse des articulations, la justesse des tempos. Sous cette baguette frémissante, le National semble avoir retrouvé un nouveau souffle et une nouvelle précision. ...let us emphasize the extraordinary subtlety of Măcelaru's direction, his sense of nuances, the flexibility of the articulations, the accuracy of the tempos. Under this quivering baton, the National seems to have found a new breath and a new precision.
- Real Audio Box
- 26 November 2021