George Enescu Philharmonic
The History We Want, We Make It Together
Challenge
Romania’s leading symphonic orchestra, George Enescu Philharmonic, has entered a new phase of development once cellist Marin Cazacu became its manager in 2022. With the artistic advice of Mihai Constantinescu, former executive director of the George Enescu International Festival, Marin Cazacu has embarked the Philharmonic on a journey to earn back its international recognition and to provide its audiences an ambitious artistic programme, featuring some of the best worldwide musicians.
While working on the artistic programme, Marin Cazacu understood the need to revamp the whole identity of both the Philharmonic, Romania’s oldest institution of the kind, and the Romanian Athenaeum, the iconic building that serves as its headquarters and stage. He reached out to OMA Vision based on our previous experience at the George Enescu International Festival, where we developed its international strategic positioning (2012) and decisively contributed to the reinvention of the George Enescu Competition (2014).
The challenge was complex: instilling a new life in two of Romania’s oldest cultural institutions, to make them relevant and attractive from a future-oriented perspective.
Approach
We undertook a deep, structural analysis of the strong and weak points of the Philharmonic and the Athenaeum, to carefully map the road for a relevant domestic and international positioning. The guiding questions were “What do the Philharmonic and the Athenaeum aim to become and how do they need to transform, to fulfill their mission and potential in Romanian society and at the international level?”. While answering these questions, we set the cornerstones and the beacon of their positioning and transformation, based on the strategic analysis: the sound of the orchestra; the audiences’ emotion and experience; cultural content, including GE Phil’s artistic programme, and experiences that can be offered by the Athenaeum, both offline and online.
How
Given the challenge and the significant time and resources required by this endeavor, we meticulously planned its phases to ensure success. Our first step was to bring on board private partners who were interested in supporting GE Phil’s and Athenaeum’s long-term development, to secure the resources for ongoing ambitious artistic programming and communication development.
Secondly, we built the branding strategy. The Philharmonic’s new brand identity stems from its Orchestra’s history and sound. The main brand color - amber - reflects the sound the Orchestra aims to have – deep, warm, clear, devoid of any stridence, and rich in history. Just like the million-year-old amber and the wood essence of the string instruments, one of the GE Phil Orchestra’s strong suits.
The slogan is simple but powerful – Music and Grace – encompassing the key promise of the George Enescu Philharmonic for its audiences: playing music in such a way that listeners and artists meet in a state of grace.
We have also developed a digital transformation plan. We implemented its first phase - the new website, aiming to improve the audiences’ experience online. OMA Vision played a crucial role: we created the concept, structure, and brief, in line with the Brand Book; we worked on the selection of the service provider; we managed the project, thoroughly working with the Philharmonic’s, design and developers’ teams; we contributed to the editorial and photo content.
After six months of hard work, in January 2025, the new website was launched, in line with the new George Enescu Philharmonic brand and aspirations. The website offers an intuitive user experience with features such as the latest news and detailed profiles of artists and upcoming events. This transformation was one of the main goals of our rebranding strategy, which will enable music lovers from all over the world to connect with Bucharest's vibrant classical music scene.
Several more steps are included in the ongoing digital development plan. We aim to create a true digital stage of George Enescu’s Philharmonic. Ambitions are high, yet the implementation pace depends on the resources we gather. More is also to come from the point of view of the communication and artistic content. Achieving the full success of this ongoing, complex project rests on the resources we gather from the community.
Results
The 2024-2025 Symphonic Season has been a remarkable success, with nearly every concert selling out. The Philharmonic was also honored with the 2024 Best Artistic Season Award by the Musical Critics Union. Artists such as the legendary Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev, young successful soloist Bruce Liu, renowned conductors Kristjan Järvi and Renaud Capuçon, and great pianist Peter Donohoe, have all graced the stage, reinforcing Bucharest's position as a global hub for classical music enthusiasts and a destination for world-class performances.
Together, we enhanced audience engagement through a vibrant mix of traditional and modern communication channels, including fresh social media campaigns, press releases, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content. As a result, the Philharmonic has reached a younger, more diverse audience, and more and more classical music aficionados discover the grace of the concerts at the Athenaeum.
Impact
The reinvention of the George Enescu Philharmonic and the Romanian Atheneum serves as a lasting testament to the transformative power of vision, collaboration, and perseverance. Together, they are poised to become, and continue to be, the cultural heart of Bucharest, inspiring audiences both in Romania and around the world.
