Mihaela Cesa-Goje – Conductor and director of the Composition and Conducting Department at the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy
Mihaela Cesa-Goje graduated from the “Gheorghe Dima” National Academy of Music, specializing in Conducting, where she studied under maestros Florentin Mihăescu and Cornel Groza. She currently serves as Associate Professor and Director of the Department of Musical Composition and Conducting at the same institution. She later completed a master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London, in the class of Professor Patrick Russill, where she received the “Irene Burcher” Prize for outstanding achievements.
In Romania, Mihaela has performed as a guest conductor with philharmonic orchestras in Bucharest (Radio Chamber Orchestra), Oradea, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureș, Satu Mare, Sibiu, and Arad. She has collaborated with internationally renowned soloists, including pianists Elizabeth Sombart, Anna Fedorova, and Julien Libeer.
In 2017, she was awarded the distinction of Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in London for her significant contribution to the field of conducting. In 2016, she made her debut at the podium of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, having been selected from over 150 candidates.
In 2011, she was chosen from 160 candidates to participate in a masterclass with Bernard Haitink and the Lucerne Festival String Orchestra. In the same year, she became a Dudamel Fellow, receiving the international scholarship of the same name, which also led to her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, where she also worked as assistant conductor to maestros Leonard Slatkin, Gustavo Dudamel, John Williams, and Semyon Bychkov.
In 2009, she was named the winner of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship, an opportunity that led to her debut with major American orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and the Florida Orchestra. Her artistic development has been shaped by prominent figures including Marin Alsop, Konrad von Abel, Leonard Slatkin, Gustav Meier, and Harold Farberman.