Orlando Cela

As a conductor, Orlando Cela serves as the music director of the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, which he also founded. For nine years, he was the music director of the North Carolina Governor’s School. He has also guest conducted the Manchester Symphony Orchestra, the London Classical Soloists, the Marquette Symphony Orchestra, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble, Sound Icon, and others. He created the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra during his year as visiting professor at Ningbo University in China. Cela has received the American Prize for conducting youth and community orchestras, the Vytautas Marijosius Prize for orchestral programming, and the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for excellence in the performance of American music. His interpretation of Beethoven’s Symphonies 7 and 8 earned him a second prize in the London Classical Soloists Conducting competition.

A dedicated music educator, Cela is known for his dynamic workshops and lecture demonstrations. Popular and effective as a guest lecturer and clinician, he has presented sessions at Tulane University, UC Berkeley, and Brandeis University, as well as at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart in Germany, and the Charlotte New Music Festival in North Carolina.