Cristian Ganicenco was appointed Principal Trombone of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1999. Mr. Ganicenco began musical studies in his native Iasi, Romania with Roman Constantin. As a student at the Military School of Music and George Enescu School of Music in Bucharest, he was a first prize winner of all the major national solo competitions in Romania. He made his solo debut with the Romanian Youth Orchestra playing Handel’s Concerto in F Minor. Mr. Ganicenco graduated from the Academy of Music in Bucharest prior to winning the audition with the Romanian National Radio Orchestra where he played for four seasons.
In 1994, Mr. Ganicenco was awarded a Soros Foundation Grant to continue his studies in the United States with Byron McCulloh at Carnegie Mellon University where he graduated in 1997 with a Master’s Degree in Trombone Performance. During this time, Mr. Ganicenco also studied with Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic. In 1996 he was the first prize winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Competition. Prior to joining the CSO, he was enrolled in a Doctoral program at Rutgers University.
Mr. Ganicenco has toured extensively around the world and has participated in international festivals in Salzburg, Edinburgh, Munich, Sao Paolo, Milan, and Paris, among others.
In October 2003, Mr. Ganicenco made his critically acclaimed solo debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performing Creston’s Fantasy for Trombone. In 2004, he was invited to play with the Super World Orchestra in Tokyo, Japan along with other principal players from all of the major orchestras in the world.
In demand as a recitalist and performing artist for Edwards Instrument Company, Mr. Ganicenco has given master classes at many universities and colleges and has been a featured artist at the International Women’s Brass Conference and the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute Festival.
Mr. Ganicenco performs frequently with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and appears with the CSO Chamber Players series.