Born on September 30, 1956, in Vidra-Ilfov, Marin Cazacu studied cello at the Dinu Lipatti Music High School in Bucharest with professors Ion Urcan and Gabriela Todor, and then at the Ciprian Porumbescu State Conservatory with the renowned professors Serafim Antropov and Aurel Niculescu. He perfected his skills in Weimar with Professor Mezö László and was the assistant to maestro Radu Aldulescu at the masterclasses in Costinești and Sinaia. Marin Cazacu is a laureate of international competitions in Geneva, Markneukirchen, Leipzig, Bologna, and Belgrade.

Since 1983, he has been a soloist with the George Enescu Philharmonic and carries out an intense activity both in Romania and throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas, under the baton of great conductors: Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Sergiu Comissiona, Cristian Mandeal, Lu Jia, Nanse Gum, Horia Andreescu, Antoni Ros Marbà, Mendi Rodan, Misha Katz, Jean Périsson. He has appeared in various chamber ensembles alongside prestigious artists such as Valentin Gheorghiu, Vladimir Orlov, Radu Aldulescu, Viktor Tretyakov, Ilia Grubert, Mihaela Martin, Mirel Iancovici, Silvia Marcovici, Jeremy Menuhin, as a member of the Pro Arte Trio and as a collaborator with the Voces Quartet. His name has often appeared on the posters of major festivals, including those in Berlin, Bratislava, Bucharest, Hong Kong, Macao, Munich, Milan, Mateus, Osaka, Singapore, Seoul, Sofia, Tokyo, Valencia, and Venice.

Since 1992, Marin Cazacu has been teaching at the National University of Music in Bucharest, and his students have successfully made their mark on stages both at home and abroad. In 1998, he founded the Cellissimo quartet – together with Alexandra Guțu, Răzvan Suma, and Olga Mănescu – and with his students he performs recitals with 8 to 20 cellos in the Violoncellissimo ensemble, the record being achieved in an orchestral formation of 100 cellos. In 2013, he became a university professor at the National University of Music Bucharest.

In 1999, Marin Cazacu founded the International Festival “Enescu and the Music of the World,” which takes place every summer in Sinaia, around the anniversary of the great musician’s birthday (August 19, 1881). For organizing this festival and establishing the first national youth orchestra (the Romanian Youth Orchestra, under the baton of Cristian Mandeal), he was distinguished by VIP and Actualitatea Muzicală magazines with the Prize for Project of the Year, received the Radio Romania Cultural Award for the success of the 12th edition of the International Festival “Enescu and the Music of the World” and of the national project the Romanian Youth Orchestra, the Constantin Brâncoveanu Award, and the “Oamenii Timpului” Award.

In 2004, he was decorated with the Cultural Merit Order in the rank of Knight; in 2006, he obtained the title of Doctor in Music with Summa Cum Laude, presenting the thesis “The Cello Concertos in Romanian Creation from Constantin Dimitrescu to Pascal Bentoiu”; and in 2017, he received the Order of the Star of Italy. His discographic recordings for Electrecord, Olympia, BMG, and AIX Records are testimonies to the qualities of this “excellent musician,” as Gennady Rozhdestvensky called him. Everywhere, his performances have been enthusiastically reviewed by audiences and critics alike.

Starting in 2008, he developed the project of Romania’s National Youth Orchestras, which currently includes the Romanian Youth Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Romania, the Sinfonietta Orchestra, and the Junior Orchestra. During the period 2014–2022, he was manager of the National Art Center “Tinerimea Română” and a member of the leadership of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras.

Since April 2022, for a five-year term, the general director of the George Enescu Philharmonic is cellist Marin Cazacu, the winner of the competition organized by the Ministry of Culture.

Marin Cazacu plays a Lorenzo Ventapane cello (1820).