Master conductor Cristian Macelaru, artistic director of the George Enescu International Music Festival and Competition on Tuesday was made an honorary citizen of Bucharest City at a ceremony at the Romanian Athenaeum.

The distinction was handed to him by acting general mayor of Bucharest, Stelian Bujduveanu, who said that, by bestowing this title, 'Bucharest expresses its gratitude to one of its great ambassadors, Master Cristian Macelaru.' Through this gesture, the City of Bucharest publicly recognises a personality who has taken our name to the most prestigious cultural circles in the world. We are proud to bestow on you the title of Honorary Citizen, thus marking a strong alliance between the capital city and arts at the highest level. As an artistic director, you have propelled the George Enescu International Festival to an unprecedented level of prestige. It is not just an event, but a global visiting card, which draws the world's attention to our capital. Every two years, Bucharest becomes the epicentre of classical music, demonstrating that we can be a pole of culture and value recognised worldwide,' said Bujduveanu.

The mayor highlighted the conductor's continuous effort to open classical music to new generations, to people who may never have approached this art.

'You don't make music only for the elite, but for the people. The Enescu Festival, under your leadership, has become more accessible, more present in the life of the community, more connected to the young and curious audience. This desire for inclusion, to bring harmony in the soul of each person is the model we want to follow in the urban and cultural development of Bucharest. (...) Thank you for everything you have given to this city and to the Romanian culture, because, although you are on the biggest stages in the world, before the most prestigious orchestras, you have remained deeply connected to the Romanian culture, because you always return with the same generosity and love to the Romanian public and to Bucharest. In a world where success often takes a long time to come by, you have chosen to stay close. Close to the people, close to the country and close to the values that made you. I want to express my wish that this distinction will be the beginning of a closer collaboration between you and Bucharest. Let me congratulate you and wish you success in all future projects. We are honoured to have you among the honorary citizens of the City of Bucharest,' said the interim general mayor of Bucharest.

Macelaru confessed that, after a series of collaborations with the National Radio Orchestra and the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Bucharest became his home away from home.

'I have discovered places where my children created unforgettable memories, I rediscovered restaurants where I found the tastes of my childhood and museums that reminded me how rich and alive the culture that defines us, Romanians, is. But, above all, we have strengthened friendships based on respect, love and the common passion to share the gift of music,' said the conductor.

He added that, currently, when he has the 'honour and responsibility' of being artistic director of the George Enescu International Festival, 'the genuine gem of the cultural richness that Romania offers to the whole world,' he feels 'even more energised and inspired to continue his extraordinary journey of sharing the beauty of music and the vast universe of human creation with every person.'

'It remains our purpose, as artists, to give the world a mirror in which to find its image. Sometimes tender or shy, as in the music of Schubert or Chopin, sometimes certain and convincing, as in the music of Beethoven or Brahms, perhaps full of love and melancholy, as in that of our hero, George Enescu. If we are truly created in the image of the Creator, then only through the reflection that art gives us can we glimpse the truth. Culture is the foundation of self-knowledge and knowledge of the world around us, and the work of each artist becomes essential to remind us of the unifying universal values. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this honour, which allows me to carry Bucharest even closer in my soul. I promise to honour this title through everything I will continue to do in the service of arts and music.'

During the ceremony, the manager of the George Enescu Philharmonic, maestro Marin Cazacu, mentioned a laudatio speech by musicologist Valentina Sandu-Dediu, corresponding member of the Romanian Academy, who praised 'the unusual energy and the enormous activities' that maestro Macelaru 'carries out in perpetual movement.' I have the feeling that awards and honours will not affect his modesty or his guiding way, that of transmitting to all of us the way he understands music. If we translate into Romanian, when we refer to music, both 'interpretation' and 'performance' by the single word 'interpretation', Cristian Macelaru certainly twins both meanings, because for him performance is always present,' according to Sandu-Dediu.

The decision to make Macelaru an honorary citizen was unanimously approved at a meeting on September 30 of the General Council of the City of Bucharest, with the distinction being awarded to him for 'exceptional merits in the field of conducting art and the promotion of Romanian musical culture nationally and internationally.'

Born on March 15, 1980, in Timisoara, conductor Cristian Macelaru comes from a family of musicians, being the youngest of 10 children, who all received lessons for playing instruments from an early age, with Cristian excelling at the violin.

At the age of 17 he migrated to the U.S.. He first came to international attention in 2012 when he appeared at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in stead of Pierre Boulez. In the same year, he received the Solti Emerging Conductor Award for young conductors, a prestigious distinction awarded only once in the history of the foundation, followed in 2014 by the Solti Conducting Award.

Since then, he has regularly conducted concerts for some of America's finest orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra.

In Europe, he has been asked to conduct prestigious orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden State Chapel Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the German Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

One of the highly appraised conductors of his generation, Macelaru was appointed in November 2019 to succeed, in 2021, the Frenchman Emmanuel Krivine at the head of the National Orchestra of France, one of the most prestigious symphony ensembles in France, taking over this position a year earlier, effective September 1, 2020.

In 2020, he received the Grammy Award for the recording of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Wynton Marsalis (Decca Classics), together with violinist Nicola Benedetti and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

At the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on July 26, 2024, he conducted the National Orchestra of France and the Radio France Choir, a historic moment watched by over 1.5 billion viewers around the world.

Among his recent recordings is an album comprising the work of George Enescu, with the Romanian Symphonies and Rhapsodies, released at Deutsche Grammophon together with the National Orchestra of France - a project under which Macelaru brings Enescu's music to the attention of the international public and which recently won the International Classical Music Award, in the category Symphonic Music.

He is the music director designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, music director of the Orchestre National de France, artistic director and principal conductor of the Interlochen Center for the Arts' World Youth Symphony Orchestra, music director and conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, where he served through the 2024/25 season and will continue as Artistic Partner for the 2025/26 season. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Popescu; EN - writing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)