Photograph by Mark Lyons
Cristian Măcelaru has spent most of his adult life living out of a suitcase. But the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s new music director, who replaces maestro Louis Langrée after a decade-plus tenure, is ready to put down roots and become one of the city’s biggest cultural ambassadors.
“With the orchestra’s touring and global presence, I want to make a case for how wonderful Cincinnati is and what it has to offer to the rest of the world,” he says about his excitement to spread the word about the CSO and his new hometown.
Măcelaru, 44, the youngest of 10 children in a Romanian musical family in which he learned to read and write music a year before mastering the alphabet, came to the U.S. at 17 to study at Michigan’s famed Interlochen Arts Academy. At the time, he was focused on playing the violin—though his ambitions to conduct began to blossom thanks to a gig as the Miami Symphony Orchestra youngest-ever concertmaster.
He performed in the Houston Symphony Orchestra while earning his master’s degree in violin at Rice University. Măcelaru (who prefers you call him “Cristi”) became a U.S. citizen in 2019 and has lived and worked recently in Germany and France, but he says he felt a strong pull when he first conducted the CSO in 2015.
Given your resume, you could have taken your services anywhere or stayed where you were. What drew you to Cincinnati and the CSO?
I admit I didn’t know much about Cincinnati when I first came in 2015. I knew the reputation of the orchestra as one of the premiere orchestras in the country, and my time here planted a seed in my mind about the possibility of having a closer relationship with the city and the Symphony. I was surprised to see how supportive and involved and generous people were toward the arts, not just in terms of financial support but also with their time and appreciation. Describe that connection you’ve said you felt “right away” with the CSO, which left you in tears following that first introduction.
What made you realize that day that it was “your orchestra?”
This kind of interaction with musicians happens on a weekly basis because I do a lot of guest conducting. So it’s really quite remarkable to feel the response from the musicians in a way that feels, first and foremost, based in respect. An audience member, especially those that are not very well-versed in the classical music repertoire, will not be able to tell you why a performance is better or not. That is our job as professionals. But they will be able to tell when that performance is better than the other. So for those less knowledgeable about the art-form, we have to make it that much better and make the artistry that much more profound for them to feel and understand it clearly.
We’ve all had job interviews, but can you describe the process of being selected for such a job? I imagine it’s much more than your resume and YouTube clips?
When the committee takes their job very seriously and smartly, the most important aspect of the interview process is the connection the music director or conductor has with the musicians on the podium when he’d conducting. I’d say that’s 90 percent of the job. It’s a vibe, something that works or it doesn’t. It’s a chemistry that needs to exist. Without the chemistry it’s really difficult to have this marriage, because it really is a marriage and you are entrusting each other with being influenced by the other. The orchestra will influence the way I make music for the rest of my life, and hopefully I will influence how they make music for the rest of their lives.
Do you have a particular goal in mind for how you want to shape the CSO over the next few years?
I share so much in the philosophy of what Louis did before me, and I like to say I don’t like to specialize in anything in particular. I want to remain open to everything that there is, every musical style, all the genres that exist. To me, music itself is the conduit to creating the connection with the people behind it. I want to expand the orchestra’s palette. I want to challenge the audience in widening their perspective as well because I really want to use the music to build better and stronger connections between us.
The CSO says your inaugural season as Music Director will explore “national identity and engage with social justice themes.” Is that a perilous program to undertake at this unique time in our nation’s history when the White House seems determined to tamp down all things it deems “DEI?”
The beauty of it all for me is understanding that the greatest art comes at the intersection of the biggest diversity. If you want to achieve an incredible artistic experience, you have to search deeply to discover the individual cultural identities that all of us bring. That requires embracing who we all are individually.
I don’t look at diversity as a social or political requirement or something that can be viewed as a negative point of view. I’m looking at how it enhances the artistic experience for all of us. You cannot imagine artists saying anything meaningful while being in a vacuum. You need to be touched by all of our experiences, and that in itself is what diversity is. I’m interested in finding the answer to what is the definition of the positive way of understanding and embracing our own individualities in a beautiful rainbow rather than trying to hide behind, and ignore, each other identities in order to create a “fake” unification.
You’ve played in rooms around the world as well as in Music Hall before and after its renovation. What appeals to you about the current Music Hall?
Photograph by Alex Johnson
I did get to experience both of them, and any time we can bring the orchestra closer to the audience and have the audience surrounding the orchestra I think is a huge plus. People are interested in experiencing the music as close as possible. Part of the magic of live performance is that you feel immersed in it rather than being an observer from the outside. I love that even though it’s a large hall there is an intimacy from every vantage point.
You have young kids. How did you convince them that this is the right move? What are they excited about?
They’re 12 and 14. They are so used to me throwing this kind of curve ball, it’s nonstop because that’s the life of a conductor. We’ve moved often, and my rule to them is as soon as you’re comfortable in one place we have to move to another to challenge the pathways you build in life. Also my dream for them, and it is happening, is for them to speak as many languages as possible by immersing themselves in that culture. You can get such a beautiful perspective on life when you are able to see it from someone else’s perspective, and nothing does that better than living in places around the world.
The CSO also has a new president, Robert McGrath, which brings even more new energy to the organization. How do you plan to work together to bring the CSO into the next era?
Robert is uniquely qualified because he has had a 13-year relationship with the orchestra working at the very top management level. He has been in so many positions with the CSO and is the person who holds the largest amount of institutional history, which is remarkable to have this person be the CEO. It is a wonderful gift, and he is an extraordinary human being and so accomplished. He also shares something in common with my wife, Cheryl, which is fabulous—he’s a former bassoon player, and she is a bassoon player.
Cincinnati has a well-earned reputation as a city that punches above its weight in the arts. What other institutions here have you explored or which are you looking to explore?
We’ve done the Art Museum, and I can’t wait to experience my first BLINK in October 2026. Believe it or not, it’s a little strange for conductors to be able to go watch other people’s performances live because you are busy a lot of the time. When I’m conducting two or three concerts a week, it’s very hard to find time to enjoy a concert, but it’s something I’ve done in Cincinnati already a few times when I’ve come in under the radar to observe the CSO and learn what it feels like to sit in the audience for a CSO concert.
Does being a violin player make a you a different kind of conductor? Does it give you a different insight into conducting or confer some inside knowledge?
What it gives me is perspective and appreciation for what the musicians are doing. My favorite thing is when I go to a new orchestra and musicians try to guess what instrument I play. Because all conductors train as musicians first, and I love it when they cannot guess what is my instrument, because that means I am not biased toward one or the other. It’s my job to be fair and equal to everyone.
Do you plan to play violin while with the orchestra?
I think with great pleasure I will join the musicians wherever my skills are needed and desired, but I definitely won’t impose myself because I have a very specific job to do and they are experts in their own ways and I don’t have time to keep up with my practicing. No one wants to hear a bad violinist try to play. But for fun and to connect with the musicians in a different way, I think there will be the occasional chamber music collaboration.
You have a very energetic style of conducting. Where did that originate and what do you think it tells an audience about your as a musician and conductor?
The truth is I don’t plan that. When I started conducting, I was asking my conducting teacher so many questions, like, How do you show the music? One piece of advice he gave me that stuck is, when the music inside of you screams loudly enough, your body will find a way to show it. I feel like I am living that advice. I don’t plan any of my movements or gestures. I get to a point when I’m on stage where I feel so closely connected to the music and with the composer and the musicians performing that somehow I become that music. You have to be a little bit like a child discovering ice cream for the first time. That’s how I feel, except it’s in front of 2,000 people and I’m not a child.
Photograph by Mark Lyons
What music is in your regular rotation that might surprise people?
I’ve been on a really big David Bowie kick lately. Every time I’m in the car with my kids everyone gets to pick a song, and lately they’ve been picking [Queen’s] Freddie Mercury and they keep playing Billy Joel for me. Listening to some of these artists, they are so profound and beautiful and creative and I really think there is something to learn from all of them. I love the abandonment in the way a Freddie Mercury sings or the sophistication of a Radiohead and creativity of a Billy Joel. I appreciate them not on a “this is fun” level but on an intellectual level as well.
Is there something on the menu in Cincinnati that reminds you of a comfort food from home in Romania?
The Germanic tradition of meat and potatoes, the sausage, is very close to my upbringing. Those that know me very well know I’m a huge food lover and I appreciate all cuisine. There’s always someone making lists for me of restaurants to try, but I have spent a lot of time at Findlay Market. I love walking around and trying new things and meeting new people. Anything that connects someone with their past, a family recipe, or a feeling of My grandmother used to do this….
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