Cristian Măcelaru and Mihai Ritivoiu

officelondon
Apr 26, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Jul 31

Ambassadors of the George Enescu Competition

A special event organised in the Enescu Concerts Series 2023-2024

Thrilled to host Maestro Cristian Macelaru at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London in our shared campaign to promote the George Enescu Festival & Competition 2024! GRAMMY Award-winning conductor, Cristian Măcelaru, is the Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival. Maestro Măcelaru is also the Artistic Director of the Orchestre National de France and has just been appointed the Artistic Director for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Alternating each year, the George Enescu International Festival and Competition is one of the most significant classical music events worldwide, comparable to the BBC Proms and festivals in Lucerne or Edinburgh. This year is the turn of The George Enescu International Competition.

Maestro Măcelaru was joined by Cristina Uruc, Executive Director of ARTEXIM, which organises those landmark events. In conversation with British journalist Peter Quantrill, Mr. Măcelaru and Ms Uruc encouraged musicians under 35s to register for the cello, violin, piano and composition sections for this year's edition. The registrations are open and you can find further details here: www.concurs.festivalenescu.ro

The evening concluded with a masterful piano performance from Mihai Ritivoiu, the previous laureate of the George Enescu International Competition.

The George Enescu International Festival has been held in Bucharest, Romania, since 1958 to celebrate the great legacy of the Romanian composer, pianist, violinist and conductor George Enescu. Previous Artistic Directors include Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Lawrence Foster and Vladimir Jurowski, to name but a few.

British-Romanian pianist Mihai Ritivoiu is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, most notably the George Enescu International Competition (2011). Mihai played concertos with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the MDR Leipzig Radio Orchestra. He collaborated with conductors such as Robert Trevino, Michael Collins, Cristian Mandeal, Christian Badea and Horia Andreescu. He has been invited to play at prestigious festivals and appeared on legendary stages such as Cadogan Hall, Barbican Centre, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. His debut album “Transcendence” with solo works by Franck, Enescu and Liszt has been praised as “beautifully recorded, handsomely played - a solo recital to cherish” (The Arts Desk). A graduate with the highest honours from the National University of Music Bucharest and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, he has recently pursued directing from the keybo

This event has been organised in partnership with Artexim to promote the upcoming 19th edition of the George Enescu International Competition, taking place in Bucharest from 31 August to 27 September 2024.

Photography by Alex Coman