Gabriel Bebeşelea

Gabriel Bebeşelea is the Principal Conductor of the “Transylvania” State Philharmonic Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca.
Admired for his enthusiasm and musicality, his reputation grew substantially and rapidly over the last years, establishing him as a fast-rising star of the conducting world.

Highlights of the 2018/2019 and the 2019/2020 season include performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Tonkunstler Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov”, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

With the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, he recorded a CD featuring George Enescu’s rediscovered oratorio “Strigoii” (The Ghosts) and his “Pastorale – Fantaisie pour petite orchestre” (edition curated by Gabriel Bebeşelea). The CD was released under the label Capriccio in September 2018.
At 31 years of age, Gabriel Bebeşelea is recognized as “one of the most gifted conductors born in the last decades in Romania” (George Enescu Festival Journal, September 7th 2011) and is winner of the first prize of the “Lovro von Matačić” Conducting Competition (Zagreb 2015) and the first prize in the “Jeunesses Musicales” Conducting Competition (Bucharest 2011). Gabriel Bebeşelea was semifinalist of the “Donatella Flick” Conducting Competition of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2014 and semifinalist of the Gustav Mahler Competition of the Bamberg Symphony in 2016.

A notable opera conductor, Bebeşelea was named Principal Conductor of the Romanian National Opera of Iaşi in 2011, becoming the youngest ever Principal Conductor in Romania. In 2015 he was named Principal Conductor of the National Romanian Opera House of Cluj-Napoca. In 2014 he was presented with the “Best Conductor” award at the Romanian National Opera Houses Awards.
Recent highlights that cemented his good reputation as an operatic conductor included conducting the new production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Tsar’s Bride” at the Perm Opera and Rossini’s “Il viaggio a Reims” at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The performances have been highly acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. With the “Transylvania” State Philharmonic Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca, Gabriel Bebeşelea presents the complete “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (The Ring Cycle) by Richard Wagner as semi-staged performances over the course of four seasons. As of now, “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre” have been put on stage, Gabriel Bebeşelea being also responsible for the staging and lighting concept of the performances.
In 2015, Gabriel Bebeşelea studied with two of the world’s most appreciated conductors: Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival at Easter and with Kurt Masur at the Aurora Classical Festival.

Furthermore, in 2011 he was awarded a scholarship consisting of an internship at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, where he had the possibility to assist at the rehearsals and concerts of some of the most representative conductors nowadays: Mariss Jansons, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Philippe Herreweghe, David Zinman and Eliahu Inbal.
In 2010 he graduated with “summa cum laude” from the Cluj-Napoca Music Academy with a Bachelor’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting as a pupil of Petre Sbarcea. Two years later he graduated the Master’s Degree Program of the National University of Music Bucharest as a student of Horia Andreescu’s Orchestra Conducting Class.

In 2018, Gabriel Bebeşelea obtained his PhD with “summa cum laude” at the National University of Music Bucharest for his Doctoral thesis “The Research of the Compositional Manuscripts, Premise and Stake of the Conducting Interpretation” under the guidance of Dan Dediu. He currently resides in Vienna where he graduated the Postgraduate Studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, at the class of Mark Stringer.