During its first ten years of existence, the young Cluj Philharmonic Orchestra developed into an ensemble with a strong personality, with a substantial and continuously expanded repertory. As a natural consequence of its international recognition, the orchestra was invited to perform concerts in the most important European concert venues. The first tour abroad took place in the former Yugoslavia, in 1964. Successful tours followed in the former USSR (1966, with memorable concerts in Moscow and Sankt Petersburg). Its first Western tour took place in 1968 in Italy; and it was also in Italy where one of the Orchestra’s most famous international performance took place – the Beethoven jubilee festival, performed both in Pesaro and Torino, in 1970, under the direction of conductors Emil Simon and Erich Bergel. After 1970, the Orchestra has been regularly to tour in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, USSR, Germany, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain.

The 1980s witnessed a progressive decrease of the international presence of the ensemble, due to the cultural isolation imposed by the communist authorities during the last years of dictatorship; after 1989, the hard work to rebuild the international renown has been highly successful, both through the high frequency of the artistic projects and the remarkable significance of some of them. The artists returned on stages in France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and most of all in Spain, with repeated presences in the Santander Festival, as well as collaborations with important names, such as José Carreras, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and others.

Though it is mainly focused on symphonic and vocal-symphonic programmes, the orchestra also pays special attention to the opera repertory. Remarkable in this respect is George Enescu’s opera Oedipe, presented on the composer’s centennial celebration (1981) at the Lucerne Festival. The orchestra was invited to opera productions organized by the famous Red de Teatros in Spain: Desvan Verdi (2001) and La Rebelion des los criados (2002). The orchestra was also guest of the Santander Festival, with productions such as Verdi’s Simone Boccanegra (conductor Antonello Allemandi, director Petrika Ionescu) or Mozart’s Don Giovanni (conductor Marco Armiliato).

A singular project brought together the Cluj orchestra and the „Deep Purple” rock band, in an ample tour in 2000. Conducted by Paul Mann, they performed John Lord’s Concerto for Rock Group and Orchestra, in cities and venues like Antwerpen, Kongresszentrum Hamburg, Trondjheim, Göteborg, Globe Arena Stockholm, International Congress Center Berlin, Praga, Luxembourg, Palais des Congrès Strasbourg, Festhalle Frankfurt, Schleyer-Halle Stuttgart, Zürich, Madrid, Filaforum Milano, Le Palais des Congrès de Paris, Wiener Stadthalle, Westfalenhallen Dortmund, Rotterdam, Olympiahalle München, Katowice.

In recent years, festival appearances include Lucerne, Bucharest, Torino, Warsaw, Istanbul, Santander, Strasbourg, Bratislava, Berlin and Interlaken festivals. The Orchestra also performed in venues such as Musikverein Vienna, Sinopoli Hall Rome and in Tokyo, as part of the La folle journée Festival, Union Hall Maribor, as guest of Festival Maribor.