“Cristian Macelaru is to become the new chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester as of September 2019, succeeding Jukka-Pekka Saraste, who exits at the end of next season after nine years,” writes Susan Elliott in Wednesday’s (5/2) Musical America (subscription required). The WRD Sinfonieorchester is based in Cologne, Germany. “Macelaru, born in Romania, is the current music director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music [in California] and served for three years as resident conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The 38-year-old conductor, onetime winner of the Solti Conducting Award, first came to international attention in 2012, when he stepped in to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for an ailing Pierre Boulez. He has guest conducted widely ever since, both opera and orchestra, both Stateside and in Europe…. Other chief conductors of the [WDR] have included Christoph von Dohnányi, Gary Bertini, and Semyon Bychkov. Saraste has been in the job since fall 2010.”
Posted May 4, 2018
