About

Born in Romania, Cristian Sandu graduated ”Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj Napoca and started his artistic activity during his college years, marking his debut in 2004 at the Romanian National Opera in Cluj Napoca with Il Barbiere di Siviglia and ever since he has been a permanent guest conductor.

Specialized in Musicology, Choir Conducting and Orchestral Conducting, Cristian Sandu has been shaped under the close guidance of illustrious Romanian masters such as Victor Dumănescu and Petre Sbârcea. Graduating the courses of the “Ilya Musin” International Academy of Advanced Conducting held in Sankt-Petersburg, class of Leonid Korchmar, Cristian Sandu enriched his experience also attending the rehearsals of great masters as Valery Gergiev, Tugan Sokhiev, Gianandrea Noseda, Pavel Bubelnikov, Yuri Temirkanov.

Starting 2015, Cristian Sandu has assisted the great italian conductor Nello Santi at the premieres of Bellini’s Norma (San Carlo di Napoli), Verdi’s La Traviata (La Fenice di Venezia), La Traviata and Nabucco (Teatro alla Scala) and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (Zurich Opera).

His international validation is confirmed by receiving the First Prize of the International Contest of Orchestra Conducting “Jeunesses Musicales” in Bucharest, 2010.

With a generous repertoire in symphonic, opera, sacred or concert genres and with a consistent artistical experience, Cristian Sandu held the position of Artistic Director at the institution of Iasi National Opera in 2011-2012 season.

At the same time, he is a permanent guest of the Romanian opera theatres and philharmonics such as Cluj Romanian National Opera, Cluj Hungarian Opera, Bucharest National Opera, Iasi National Opera, Timisoara National Opera, Craiova Opera, Braşov Opera, Constanta “Oleg Danovski” Opera and Ballet Theatre, Galați “Nae Leonard” Musical Theatre. Bucharest ”George Enescu” Philharmonic Orchestra, Bucharest Radio Chamber Orchestra, Cluj Transilvania Philharmonic Orchestra, Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra, Satu Mare ”Dinu Lipatti” Philharmonic Orchestra, Iasi Philharmonic Orchestra, Oradea Philharmonic Orchestra, Arad Philharmonic Orchestra, Pitesti Philharmonic Orchestra, Botosani Philharmonic Orchestra etc

His international recognition took place in 2006 during the Daegu International Opera Festival (South Korea) with the opera Il Matrimonio Segreto by Cimarosa. Amongst other abroad collaborations could be mentioned: Kiev National Ukraine Orchestra, Kiev Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sankt Petersburg “Klassika” State Symphony Orchestra, Forli “Bruno Maderna” Symphony Orchestra, Dnepropetrovsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Lecco “Sinfolario” Orchestra, Daegu Opera Festival Orchestra, Palermo ”Mediterranea” Chamber Orchestra

He obtains his PhD in Music with the thesis The Verismo Style in Modern Opera Evolution, thus enriching his presence in festivals and international juries, such as: International Singing Contest “Petre Stefănescu-Goangă” (Bucharest 2010), International Vocal Contest ”Vox Artis” (Sibiu 2011), International Voice Competition “Alfredo Giacomotti” (Pavia 2012), “Black Sea” Conducting Festival (Constanţa 2012), “Virginia Zeani” International Vocal Competition (Târgu Mureş, 2017, 2018)

In april 2013 he conducted in Verdi 200 International Festival (Aida, La Traviata, Verdi Gala) with the Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre from Almaty, Kazakhstan and in the ”River of the Sound” Festival in Astana (La Traviata).

Between 2014-2016 Cristian Sandu was a permanent guest conductor of Bucharest National Opera, where he conducted the premiere of Verdi’s Rigoletto in the company of the British director Stephen Barlow. In 2015 he collaborated with great names from the international ballet world, such as Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg, but also Yana Salenko, Osiel Guneo, Xander Parish or David Trzensimiech and in the same year, he signed the musical leadership of the DSCH/The Dream ballet production, on Shostakovics and Mendelssohn music.

In 2017 he made his japanese debut in front of Tokyo New City Orchestra and in june 2018 he conducted the national premiere of Bellini’s La Sonnambula with Kishinev State Philharmonic Orchestra in the company of hungarian director Kürthy András.

In present, Cristian Sandu is Associate Professor at Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj Napoca, conductor of the ”Antonin Ciolan” Orchestra and vocal coach and conductor within the Opera Studio.