“Cristian Macelaru, the conductor-in-residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra, has been named as the new music director and conductor for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music” in California, writes Joshua Kosman in Friday’s (9/9) San Francisco Chronicle. The appointment takes immediate effect, and Macelaru will begin his inaugural season “in August 2017, succeeding Marin Alsop, who stepped down after concluding her 25th season with the festival last month. Macelaru, 36, is a Romanian native—the youngest of 10 siblings—who immigrated to the U.S. at 17 to pursue his musical studies. He came to prominence with a highly praised appearance in 2012, conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a last-minute substitution for an ailing Pierre Boulez. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. The Cabrillo Festival will mark his first music directorship.” The appointment comes after a yearlong search led by the Festival’s board of directors and Executive Director Ellen Primack. In the 2015-16 season, Macelaru led subscription concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra in D.C., as well as with the Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and New World Symphony.
Posted September 9, 2016
Cristian Macelaru photo by Sorin Popa
