Despre Romanian Chamber Orchestra

Romanian Symphony Orchestra (starting 2025), Romanian Chamber Orchestra and the Romanian String Quartet are part of af the same soul project, born from the desire of Romanian musicians from the Diaspora to represent and promote Romania in the world through art and culture, a “national team of musicians” which consists of some of the most representative Romanian artists.

Established in 2019 as a chamber orchestra – the Romanian Chamber Orchestra – through the years the project developed two new directions, offering fl exibility and versatility in approaching a varied program, from chamber music to the symphonic repertoire. By the caliber of its members and the contribution made to the national heritage, the project became in the last years a point of reference for Romanian culture and a cultural ambassador of Romania in the world. The authentic interpretation of the works is interwoven with the extraordinary skill of the musicians performing in our ensembles, offering the public an excellent concert experience. The artistic director is the Romanian – Swiss violist Cristian Andriș and the orchestras are led by two of the most appreciated Romanian conductors – Cristian Măcelaru and Gabriel Bebeșelea.

Since the fi rst edition, in 2019, it has been a high-profi le musical and innovative project. In 2020, the Romanian Chamber Orchestra was the fi rst orchestra in Romania, and one of the fi rst ensembles in Europe, to perform using digital media, with paper scores being replaced by tablets. In April 2021, the Romanian String Quartet celebrated with a concert in Madrid a moment of great historical charge for Romania and Spain – 140 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In the same year, Romanian Chamber Orchestra was the fi rst orchestra in Romania to record a concert using 360-degree technology, using four cameras at a resolution of 5.7K, a recording watched by tens of thousands of spectators around the world, the project being nominated by the Administration of the Romanian National Cultural Fund (AFCN) in the “International Cultural Cooperation” category. The orchestra’s recordings are distributed worldwide through the European Broadcasting Union network, which includes 69 stations in 56 countries, thus reaching some of the world’s most important classical music radio stations such as BBC3, France Musique or SWR, and television stations such as TVR or French 3.

The ensemble’s fi rst compact disc, recorded in 2020 and released in 2021 at Casa Radio Publishing House, entitled “Romanian Chamber Orchestra – Cristian Macelaru – Schubert& Dvořák” received the highest rating from Radio Romania Music Station – “The Golden Sound Library” and was nominated in Romania for “Disc of the Year 2022”. Timișoara – the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2023 was also promoted through a concert performed by the Romanian String Quartet, which took place in December 2022 at the Permanent Representation of Romania next to the European Parliament in Brussels. In 2023, the Romanian Chamber Orchestra launched the RCO 4 Seasons, a series of chamber music concerts performed by the musicians of our ensemble in Europe. The fi rst concerts took place in Rome, Madrid, Porto and Lisbon, realized thanks to the special support received from the Romanian Embassies and Cultural Institutes in those countries. The RCO 4 Seasons project was nominated by the Administration of the Romanian National Cultural Fund (AFCN) for the 2023 AFCN Awards, in the category “Promoting Romanian culture in the world”. The National Day of Romania in 2023 was celebrated in Lisbon by a new presence of the Romanian String Quartet.

The concerts performed by the Romanian Chamber Orchestra during the RCO Tour in June 2023 , entitled “Shine Your Light”, enjoyed great success in Romania, Switzerland and Germany, the ensemble being cheered by the public for its passionate interpretation of the repertoire, performed with a mastery specifi c to the best ensembles in the world. The close collaboration with Benedict Klöckner, one of the most remarkable cellists of his generation and winner of the OPUS Klassik 2021, brought a new CD recording realized in collaboration with the Südwestrundfunk (SWR), releasing an exciting live recording of the Antonín Dvořák Cello Concerto. The fi rst presence at the George Enescu International Festival, in September 2023, came as a confi rmation of the value of the ensemble.

Romanian String Quartet had in June 2024, in Timis county, a new concert Tour in which they performed a varied repertoire written by Romanian composers from the Banat Region. In August 2024, the Romanian Chamber Orchestra had also a Tour, entitled “Way to Concertgebouw”, and the highlight was represented by the concert which the ensemble had in one of the most important concert halls in the world – Concertgebouw Amsterdam, with a sold out house and minutes long standing ovations. A CD production was made with works written by the composers George Enescu, Béla Bartók, Carl Filtsch, György Ligeti, Ciprian Porumbescu, Constantin Silvestri, highlighting the multi-cultural Romania. The CD entitled “Sound of Romania” will be released by the end of 2024. The second tour, entitled “Freedom of Music”, was performed by the Romanian String Quartet and was held in countries such as Romania, Hungary, Poland and Germany. The proposed theme was related to the story of freedom, celebrating through music 35 years since the liberation of seven European countries from communism.

Over the years, the ensemble collaborated with acclaimed soloists like Simon Trpčeski, Benedict Klöckner, Teo Gheorghiu, Brian Cheng, Carlos Ferreira, Sebastian Bohren and Alexandru Tomescu.

In January 2025, the Romanian Union of Music Critics, Editors and Producers offered our ensemble the Excelence Award.