A student of Herbert von Karajan in Berlin and Sergiu Celibidache in Munich, Cristian Mandeal is considered one of the most important contemporary conductors, his activity comprising four decades of uninterrupted work.
From 1987 to 2009 Cristian Mandeal was the Principal Conductor and the General Musical Director of the Bucharest Philharmonic and under his guidance the orchestra established itself on the international stage; he left behind an exceptional institution. Cristian Mandeal was the Director of the Northern Israeli Orchestra in Haifa (1999–2002), the Euskadi Symphony – Basque National Orchestra, San Sebastian (2001–2008) and the Permanent Conductor of the Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano and Trento (2000–2003), the Principal Guest Conductor of Hallé Orchestra, Manchester (2005–2010 — the first person in the 150-year history of the orchestra to hold this title), the Belgarde Philharmonic (2006–2007 season), and the Copenhagen Philharmonic (2006–2013).
Cristian Mandeal has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Staatskapelle Berlin, Münchener Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Orchesters der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Czech Philharmonic, Prague Symphony and Radio Orchestras, Israel Philharmonic, Orchester Nationale de Belgique, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia di Roma, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI di Torino, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestra Simfonica Gothenburg, Orchestrele Filarmonicilor din Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Ciudad de Mexico, Helsinki, Monte Carlo, Copenhaga, Moscova, Varsovia, Sofia, Belgrade, and Zagreb, these being just a few examples.
Cristian Mandeal has participated in many festivals including Edinburgh Festival, Prague Spring Festival, Bloomington Festival, Tivoli Festival, Quincena Musical in San Sebastian, festivals in Istanbul, Ankara, Athens, Thessaloniki, Lisbon, Brescia-Bergamo and Ravelo (Italy), Brno and Bratislava, Janacek Ostrava Festival, BEMUS Festival in Belgrade, Tokyo Spring Festival, etc. Of these, it is important to mention the International Festival and the “George Enescu” Contest in which he was Artistic Director in 2001 and 2003.
He has collaborated with some of the most important soloists in the world, including Maxim Vengerov, Kristian Zimerman, Vadim Repin, Julian Rachlin, Victoria Mulova, Isabelle Faust, Radu Lupu, Ileana Cotrubaş, Renato Bruson, Mstislav Rostropovici, Alicia de Larrocha, Ivo Pogorelici, John Lill, Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Nelson Freire, Gerhard Oppitz, Grigori Sokolov, Boris Berezovski, Ivry Gitlis, Leonidas Kavakos, Shlomo Minz, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Maurice Andre, Yefim Bronfman and many others.
Cristian Mandeal has conducted hundreds of concerts in over 36 countries, his music filling the audience with inspiration all over the world. He has directed over 60 awards, works by Romanian and foreign composers, including some works dedicated to him.
In the last 6 years, Cristian Mandeal has focused his efforts in order to refine, educate, develop and support the Romanian Youth Orchestra, which in a record time has managed to become an important representative of the contemporary Romanian musical culture. During its national and international performances, the Romanian Youth Orchestra became a true ambassador of Romania.