Gregory Vajda is the new Principal Conductor of the Transylvania State Philharmonic, his appointment marking an important artistic milestone for one of Romania’s leading musical and cultural institutions and reaffirming its commitment to international excellence. Described as a “young titan” by the Montreal Gazette following his acclaimed performances with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Schönberg’s Erwartung, Gregory Vajda has rapidly established himself as one of the most sought-after conductors on the international music scene. His work is distinguished by stylistic precision, a compelling artistic vision, and a deep engagement with both the classical canon and contemporary repertoire. Reflecting his growing presence in North America, Vajda was appointed in 2011 as the sixth Music Director of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, a position through which he further consolidated his international profile. His career spans major orchestras, festivals, and contemporary music institutions across Europe and beyond. In Europe, Gregory Vajda assumed the role of Principal Conductor of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra (Hungary) in the autumn of 2022. Additionally, following three seasons as Artist-in-Residence, he was appointed Associate Principal Conductor (Chef Principal Associé) of the French contemporary music ensemble Ars Nova, founded by French-Romanian composer and conductor Marius Constant, for the period 2024–2026. An important figure in the contemporary music landscape of Central Europe, Vajda serves as Artistic Director of the UMZE New Music Ensemble and Program Director of the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation. After completing a three-year tenure as Principal Conductor, he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also served as the Artistic Director of the Armel International Opera Festival and Competition (2013-2019) an important platform for innovative operatic productions.
Gregory Vajda’s artistic achievements have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Gundel Art Prize (2001), the Bartók–Pásztory Prize (2018), and the Artisjus Prize for Performing Arts (2020). He holds a DLA degree in Conducting. Mr. Vajda has conducted among many others the Vienna Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, the Frankfurt Radio, the Seattle, Baltimore, Montreal and Toronto Symphonies, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain and Klangforum Wien. He has led productions at the Atlanta and the Montreal Opera, at the Hamburg State Opera, Opera Palermo and the Budapest State Opera. He has been invited to the Salzburg Festspiele, Lanaudiére Festival (Canada), the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, the Budapest Wagner Days, and Brussels’ Ars Musica Festival to name a few. The 2025–2026 season will be particularly significant, featuring Vajda’s debut as both conductor and composer with the Israel Contemporary Players, alongside return engagements with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra Cluj-Napoca (Romania), the Hungarian State Opera, the Pannon Philharmonic, the MÁV Symphony Orchestra. As part of Hungary’s “Kurtág 100” centennial celebrations, he will teach alongside Thomas Adès in a joint masterclass organized by the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation and the UMZE Chamber Ensemble. In the summer of 2026, he will conduct a highly successful contemporary music production inspired by the Orpheus myth with Ensemble Ars Nova, presented in multiple European venues. The appointment of Gregory Vajda as Principal Conductor of the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra underscores the orchestra’s strategic vision to strengthen its international profile, foster artistic innovation, and engage in meaningful dialogue with contemporary musical thought, while honoring the highest standards of symphonic tradition.
As the Conductor Emeritus of the Transylvania State Philharmonic, Lawrence Foster strenghtens even more the bond he has always had with the institution. Lawrence Foster is known for his exhilarating and expressive performances in a wide range of music, he enjoys a major career spanning the US, Europe and Asia. As a champion of the music of Enescu, his interpretations are renowned for their faithfulness to the score: “Lawrence Foster seems to have been put on this planet to conduct Enescu’s music. He is clearly a true believer and he understands every technical nuance and every expressive twist and turn” – The Telegraph. After being the Music Director of Opéra de Marseille for nine years and Artistic and Chief Conductor of Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra for four years, this 2023/24 season, Lawrence Foster is invited to conduct an exciting variety of programs. On the operatic field, he will return to Frankfurt Opera and Enescu Festival to conduct a repertoire as diverse as Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve and symphonic programmes that include Brahms, Prokofiev, Enescu, Copland, Korngold, Kurt Weill, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Mahler, Berg, Penderecki, with orchestras such as Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Würth Philharmonic Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and his regular collaborations with Opéra Marseille and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Lawrence Foster is one of the most iconic personalities of the classical music of the last years. Awarded with the Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood in 1966, he became assistant conductor of Zubin Mehta at Los Angeles Philharmonic and chief Guest conductor of Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969. Since then, he has been music director at Houston Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier and Aspen Music Festival and School amongst many other positions. Foster is particularly appreciated as an interpreter of the works of George Enescu and has made a comprehensive survey of commercial recordings of Enescu’s music. He served as artistic director of the George Enescu Festival from 1998 to 2001. In 2003, Foster was decorated by the Romanian President for services to Romanian music. Foster has recorded a number of discs for Pentatone including Schumann’s symphonies, orchestral works by Kodály, Bartók and Ligeti, and piano and violin concertos by Bruch, Korngold, Rachmaninov, Grieg and Chopin, with various soloists. His recording of Enescu’s Oedipe was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque from the Académie Charles Cros in France.
