Conductor Cristian Măcelaru nominated to take over as artistic director of George Enescu Festival

The Culture Ministry nominated conductor Cristian Măcelaru as artistic director of the George Enescu International Festival, the largest classical music event in the country.

Măcelaru, currently the music director of Orchestre National de France and chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne, answered “positively” to the proposal, the ministry said in a release. Further discussions will be held in the coming period on the future editions of the festival.

The position was vacant after conductor Vladimir Jurowski ended a mandate that started in 2015.

The ministry also needs to appoint an executive director for the festival as Mihai Constantinescu, who held the job for the past 30 years, is retiring this fall.

Constantinescu, who saluted Măcelaru’s nomination, pointed to the need to appoint an executive director.

“I emphasize publicly what I said in all talks with institutional decision-makers: appointing a good artistic director does not guarantee the successful continuation of the festival. The executive director, who needs to have a certain professional profile, holds a key role, as does the festival’s organizational architecture, which needs consolidation and upgrades to be able to face the international competition on the segment of similar events,” Constantinescu said.

He explained he agreed to advise Măcelaru in his role as artistic director “as long as a professional who will continue to develop the Enescu Festival and Competition […] is appointed executive director.”

Constantinescu said he would continue to work for the festival until his retirement this fall and draft a series of proposals aimed at consolidating the event and a professional profile for its new executive director.

“The festival’s ability to withstand the double management change, executive and artistic, is a test of maturity for the event I have served over the past 30 years. I want the festival to pass this test, and I will do what I can to contribute to its success.”

The outgoing executive director thanked Vladimir Jurowski for “the complex contribution to the festival’s development over the past six years” and Zubin Mehta, who has been the festival’s and competition’s honorary president in the past six years, a “guarantee for their international-level artistic quality.”

The 25th edition of festival was held last month. Seventy-eight concerts were held in Bucharest, and 13 events took place in other cities in the country. The event brought 3,500 artists to Bucharest- star performers of classical music and top orchestras.