Philadelphia Orchestra Associate Conductor Cristian M?celaru is emerging as one of the most promising of the next generation of classical music leaders. This Sunday, March 9th, on WRTI's Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast, we'll hear him conduct his first, regularly scheduled, subscription concert. But, as WRTI's Jim Cotter reports, he may well be one of the orchestra's most experienced in-house debutantes.
Formerly a violinist with the Houston Symphony, M?celaru began his tenure in Philadelphia in the 2011-12 season, and was scheduled to conduct his first subscription concert earlier this year. But fate intervened and pushed him into the limelight - not only with his home orchestra, but also with one of the country's other great ensembles.
In February 2012, when Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez withdrew from his scheduled appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, M?celaru stepped in. When Boulez was incapacitated a year later in March 2013, the young Romanian once again came to the rescue. Then, just a month later, when a family emergency forced Jaap van Zweden to pull out of a Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert, M?celaru made his unofficial subscription debut with his home orchestra, in tandem with the orchestra's music director.