Romanian Cristian Măcelaru appointed music director of Orchestre National de France

Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru has been appointed music director of Orchestre National de France (ONF), the Paris-based symphony orchestra established in 1934.

He is to start his four-year mandate in 2021. He is succeeding French conductor Emmanuel Krivine.

The 39-year old Romanian conductor currently serves as music director of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln), a German radio orchestra based in Cologne.

“I look forward with great anticipation and excitement to joining the ONF family. From the onset of the first rehearsal together, we both understood each other’s desire for a more refined music making structured on the basis of the deep understanding of the composer’s intent,” Măcelaru said.

Before turning to conducting, Măcelaru studied violin, and was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the US Miami Symphony Orchestra.

Winner of the Solti Emerging Conductor Award in 2012 and Solti Conducting Award in 2014, he performed regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

He made his Carnegie Hall debut in February 2015 on a program with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Anne-Sophie Mutter. Also an opera conductor, in June 2015 he led the Cincinnati Opera in performances of Il Trovatore. In 2010, he made his operatic debut with the Houston Grand Opera in Madama Butterfly.

As a conductor, he worked with many well-known orchestras, among them Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hallé Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

(Photo: Cristian Macelaru Facebook Page)