George Enescu International Festival 2025

The 27th edition of the George Enescu International Festival, one of the world’s leading classical music festivals, will take place in Bucharest, Romania, from August 24 to September 21, 2025. Under the artistic direction of renowned conductor Cristian Măcelaru, this edition will feature multiple international premieres and landmark interpretations, attracting over 4,000 artists from 28 countries, including world-class orchestras, conductors, and soloists.

This edition is dedicated to Celebrations, primarily marking the 70th anniversary of George Enescu's passing. Widely regarded as Romania’s greatest composer, Enescu’s legacy will be honored through an exceptional program featuring over 45 performances of his works, including symphonies, orchestral suites, chamber music, and his masterpiece opera Oedipe, performed by the Bucharest National Opera.

Beyond Enescu, the festival will also celebrate major milestones in the lives and works of legendary composers: Maurice Ravel (150 years since his birth), Gabriel Fauré (180 years since his birth), Pierre Boulez (100 years since his birth), Arvo Pärt (90 years since his birth), Johann Sebastian Bach (340 years since his birth), Dmitri Shostakovich (50 years since his passing).

• A Gathering of the World’s Finest Orchestras

More than 80 orchestras, choirs, and chamber ensembles will take part in the 27th edition of George Enescu International Festival, including:

• Orchestre National de France (France) – Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
• Ensemble Intercontemporain (France)
• Les Siècles (France) - Franck Ollu (Sept 2), Ustina Dubitsky (Sept 3), conductors
• Les Ambassadeurs ~ La Grande Écurie (France) - Emmanuel Resche-Caserta, conductor
• Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich (Switzerland) – Paavo Järvi, conductor
• Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Netherlands) – Klaus Mäkelä, conductor
• Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Italy) – Daniel Harding, conductor
• Philharmonia Orchestra (UK) – Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK) – Vasily Petrenko, conductor
• Czech Philharmonic (Czech Republic) – Petr Popelka, conductor
• Staatskapelle Dresden (Germany) – Daniele Gatti, conductor
• Budapest Festival Orchestra (Hungary) – Iván Fischer, conductor
• WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln (Germany) – Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
• George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania) – Arnaud Arbet, conductor
• Romanian Radio National Orchestra (Romania) – Giancarlo Guerrero (14.09), Francesco Ivan Ciampa (21.09), conductors

World-Class SoloistsThe festival will host some of the most celebrated classical musicians, including violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter, Isabelle Faust, Renaud Capuçon, Nemanja Radulović, Augustin Hadelich, pianists Martha Argerich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Kirill Gerstein, Alexandra Dariescu, Alexandre Kantorow, Nelson Goerner, Rudolf Buchbinder, Sir Andras Schiff, cellists Gautier Capuçon, Kian Soltani, Sol Gabetta, Andrei Ioniță, Alisa Weilerstein or some of the most important soloists of the world opera stage:Sopranos: Asmik Grigorian, Sonya Yoncheva, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Kristine Opolais, Julia Lezhneva, Jennifer Holloway, Ailyn Pérez, Elsa DreisigMezzo-sopranos: Ruxandra Donose, Magdalena Kožená, Judit Kutasi, Ramona ZahariaTenors: Benjamin Bernheim, Maximilian Schmitt, Benjamin Hulett, Paul Curievici, Leonardo CortellazziBass, Baritones: Iain Paterson, Ionuț Pascu, Bogdan Baciu, Frode Olsen, Vazgen Gazaryan, Soloman Howard

Beyond the highly affordable tickets available to young audiences with a student card, the festival offers a special program dedicated to them - Enescu in Control.

The George Enescu International Festival is an event held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania. Cultural project funded by the Romanian Government through the Ministry of Culture.