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The Orchestre de Paris has named the Franco-Romanian violinist Sarah Nemtanu as its new concertmaster, following a three-year search. Nemtanu, who is currently concertmaster of the Orchestre National de France, will take up her new position on 1 January 2026.
Since the retirement of Roland Daugareil in 2021 and the death of Philippe Aïche in 2023, the orchestra has been searching for two new concertmasters; Nemtanu’s appointment fills one of the vacancies.
Nemtanu was appointed concertmaster of the Orchestra National de France in 2002, at the age of just 21, a post she shares with Luc Héry. She studied at the Conservatoire de Bordeaux, where she was awarded gold medal in violin and in chamber music, before entering the Conservatoire de Paris, where she studied with Gérard Poulet and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. She won first prize at the Ravel Festival competition at Saint-Jean-de-Luz in 1998. In 2011, she was named one of the six most influential female violinists in the world by Figaro magazine.
Prior to her appointment, Nemtanu had participated in several concerts as guest concertmaster with the Orchestre de Paris, including Mahler’s Symphony no.9 in October 2024 and Bach’s Mass in B minor in April 2025 under the direction of the orchestra’s chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä.
The orchestra stated in a press release, ‘Following all these performances, her connection with the orchestra became evident… Mäkelä, like the musicians of the Orchestre de Paris, is delighted to now be able to count on her great musical and human qualities.’