The Cluj Musical Autumn is the most important international classical music festival in Romania, after the biennial “George Enescu” International Festival. The first edition of the festival took place in 1965 and, with one small exception (a year’s interruption), the festival has maintained its annual rhythm throughout its entire history.
Traditionally, the festival’s musical offering is eclectic, both chronologically and in terms of composers and interpretive approaches. The festival features symphonic and vocal-symphonic concerts, as well as chamber and solo recitals, covering the entire history of classical music, from the earliest scores to contemporary compositions. This festival has always supported cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, as well as artistic debuts: alongside names well established in the national and international musical world, the festival also creates spaces to promote talented young musicians at the start of their careers. In equal measure, in recent years the festival has also turned toward events outside the sphere of classical music, including jazz concerts, traditional music, film music, and fusion or world music approaches.
Listing the guests of previous editions would be far too long, but the festival has always maintained a high artistic standard, through the performances of conductors such as Valery Gergiev, André Previn, Anatole Fistoulari, Roberto Benzi, Maurice Handford, János Ferencsik, Michiyoshi Inoue, Edvard Civjel, Yehudi Menuhin, Adrian Sunshine, Alexis Hauser, Laurent Petitgirard, Antonin Ciolan, Emil Simon, Mircea Cristescu, Erich Bergel, Horia Andreescu, Cristian Mandeal, Nicolae Moldoveanu, Camil Marinescu, Zeev Dorman, Sascha Goetzel, Stefan Geiger, Mark Mast, as well as soloists such as Jean-Pierre Rampal, Aldo Ciccolini, Lazar Berman, James Kreger, Monique Haas, Ștefan Ruha, Maria Fotino, Valentin Gheorghiu, Lory Wallfisch, Michel Bourdoncle, Harald Enghiurliu, Andrei Agoston, Dan Grigore, Mihaela Martin, Marin Cazacu, Daniel Kientzy, Silvia Marcovici, Liana Șerbescu, Freddy Kempf, David Grimal, Simon Trpčeski, Michael Barenboim, Sivan Silver, Gil Garburg, Daniel Goiță, Liviu Prunaru, Emilia Petrescu, Georgeta Stoleriu, Liliana Nichiteanu, Edith Simon, Martha Kessler, Ionel Pantea, Ruxandra Donose, Brigitta Kele, and Adela Zaharia.
This year’s edition will take place between 9-23 October 2026.
