Juanjo Mena

A respected conductor, Juanjo Mena has led the <a href="spotify:artist:2os8ZaeBvYxyVgTKrHtnvK">BBC Philharmonic</a> and is noted for his work in opera. In 2017, he became principal conductor of the Cincinnati May Festival and served there for six years. Though he has an international career, he has maintained ties to his native Basque region. In 2024, Mena issued a pair of albums, leading the Basque National Orchestra in an album of works by composer Gabriel Erkoreka and the <a href="spotify:artist:2os8ZaeBvYxyVgTKrHtnvK">BBC Philharmonic</a> in Roberto Gerhard's ballet Don Quixote.

Juan José Mena, known as Juanjo Mena, was born on September 21, 1965, in Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain's Basque-dominated Araba province. His brother <a href="spotify:artist:2gW0MPcXDVCwe4687zcTOn">Carlos</a> is a noted countertenor. Juanjo studied at the Conservatorio Jesús Guridi in Vitoria-Gasteiz and went on to the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música in Madrid, taking courses in composition and orchestration with Carmelo Bernaola and conducting with <a href="spotify:artist:24mUgIQY2KZLbDCrdfqCnT">Enrique García Asensio</a>. He traveled to Munich for further studies with <a href="spotify:artist:6Aqj71kXAhQv3GncDt9gfx">Sergiu Celibidache</a>. Returning to Basque country, he was asked by the Basque regional government to form a new youth orchestra and then became the associate conductor of the region's Euskadi Symphony Orchestra. Mena was named the principal conductor and artistic director of Spain's Bilbao Symphony Orchestra in 1999 and remained there until 2008. He also held guest conducting slots during this period, making his North American debut with the <a href="spotify:artist:1w77QW6t2p7zrCEbgwk256">Baltimore Symphony</a> in 2004. From 2007 to 2013, Mena was the principal guest conductor of the Bergen Symphony Orchestra in Norway. In 2011, he became the principal conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:2os8ZaeBvYxyVgTKrHtnvK">BBC Philharmonic</a>, with a three-year contract that was renewed for another three-year term. With that group, he made his recording debut in 2011, leading performances of works by Gabriel Pierné.

Mena was named the principal guest conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:2fjrtbDUXoUeZBoAL8ry0P">Orquesta Nacional de España</a>, and in 2017, after guest conducting appearances with major American orchestras, including the <a href="spotify:artist:6tdexW8bZTG8NgOFUCYQn1">Philadelphia Orchestra</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6yeL5iw4hXNZtd8T7FOoFU">Los Angeles Philharmonic</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4b1OFVRz9W1m6T5pFtwjGG">Houston Symphony</a>, he became the principal conductor of the venerable Cincinnati May Festival of choral music. He departed that position in 2023. Mena has recorded with several of the orchestras with which he has been associated. He led the <a href="spotify:artist:2os8ZaeBvYxyVgTKrHtnvK">BBC Philharmonic</a> in a series of recordings for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chandos%22">Chandos</a>, including a 2019 reading of Falla's La Vida Breve. In 2021, a <a href="spotify:artist:2os8ZaeBvYxyVgTKrHtnvK">BBC Philharmonic</a> recording appeared with Mena backing percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:13Tk0FNK9aJCXG4lh0VacH">Colin Currie</a> in a percussion concerto by HK Gruber. His 2024 album of music by Gabriel Erkoreka appeared on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ondine%22">Ondine</a> label, and his Roberto Gerhard ballet recording was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chandos%22">Chandos</a>. Mena has won several major Spanish awards, including the Premio Nacional de Música (2016). ~ James Manheim, Rovi