GRAMMY Award-winning conductor, Cristian Măcelaru, is the Music Director Designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of the George Enescu 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 will serve through the 2024/25 season, and continue as Artistic Partner for the 2025/26 season.

Măcelaru appeared at the Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony which was broadcast to 1.5 billion viewers worldwide. He led the Orchestre National de France and Chœur de Radio France in the performance of the Olympic Anthem as the Olympic Flag was raised beneath the Eiffel Tower. Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France continue their 2024/25 season in tours throughout France, Germany, South Korea, and China. Guest appearances include his debuts with the Oslo Philharmonic and RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin, as well as returns with the Wiener Symphoniker, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in Europe. In North America, Măcelaru leads the Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Măcelaru's previous seasons include European engagements with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Berlin, and Budapest Festival Orchestra. In North America, he has led the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and The Cleveland Orchestra. Măcelaru maintains an especially close collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he previously held the position of Conductor-in-Residence for three seasons. Măcelaru has conducted more than 150 performances with the orchestra since his debut in April 2013.

In 2020, he received a GRAMMY Award for conducting the Decca Classics recording of Wynton Marsalis' Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His most recent release is of Enescu Symphonies and two Romanian Rhapsodies with the Orchestre National de France, released on Deutsche Grammophon.