Gustavo Gimeno (born 1976, in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) is a Spanish conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the

Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra (, ), abbreviated to OPL, is a symphony orchestra based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The orchestra formerly performed at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Conservatoire de Luxembourg. ...

and music director of the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

Biography

The son of a clarinetist, Gimeno studied percussion and piano as a youth. His elder brother studied clarinet and violin. Gimeno joined the percussion section of the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

(KCO) in 2001, and was named principal percussionist of the KCO in April 2002. During his career with the KCO, Gimeno continued his education at the Amsterdam Conservatory, with a focus on conducting. He received encouragement and mentoring from

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian Conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Strauss, and Russian composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, ...

, and became an assistant conductor to Jansons with the KCO. He has participated in conducting master classes with Ed Spanjaard,

Iván Fischer Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Biography Born in Budapest into a musical family of Jewish heritage, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. His older brother, ...

and Hans Vonk. Gimeno has also counted

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...

and

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...

among his other conducting mentors. In particular, he assisted Abbado with the Orchestra Mozart (Bologna) and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Gimeno gained additional conducting experience with other orchestras in Amsterdam. From 2009 to 2012, he was chief conductor of the ''Amsterdams Symphonie Orkest Con Brio''. He then was chief conductor of Het Orkest Amsterdam from 2012 to 2013. He left the KCO in 2013 to devote his career to conducting. Gimeno came to greater international attention in February 2014 in an emergency guest-conducting appearance with the KCO, substituting for Jansons, in a concert which included the Dutch premiere of the Piano Concerto No 2 by

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence from 2014 to 2017. Ear ...

. Gimeno became principal conductor

(OPL) at the start of the 2015–2016 season, his first full-time orchestral post, with an initial contract of 4 years. In March 2017, the OPL announced the extension of Gimeno's contract through the 2021–2022 season. Gimeno has made several commercial recordings with the OPL for the Pentatone label. Gimeno is scheduled to conclude his OPL tenure at the close of the 2024–2025 season. In February 2018, Gimeno first guest-conducted the

(TSO). On the basis of this guest appearance, the TSO announced the appointment of Gimeno as its next music director, effective with the 2020–2021 season, with an initial contract of 5 years. In November 2022, the TSO announced the extension of Gimeno's contract as its music director through 2030. In 2019, Gimeno first guest-conducted at the

Teatro Real The Teatro Real () is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as "''El Real''" (The Royal One). it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts ...

, Madrid. He returned in April 2022 to conduct their production of ''

The Fiery Angel (opera) ''The Fiery Angel'' (), Op. 37, is an opera by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. The opera was composed between 1919 and 1927. It was premiered posthumously in 1955 in Venice, in Italian. The work was not presented to Russian audiences until th ...

''. In July 2022, the Teatro Real announced the appointment of Gimeno as its next music director, effective with the 2025–2026 season, with an initial contract of 5 years. Gimeno and his family live in Amsterdam.

Selected discography

* Bruckner - Symphony No. 1 & 4 Orchestral Pieces. Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg. PENTATONE PTC 5186613 (2017) * Ravel - ''Daphnis et Chloé''. Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln. PENTATONE PTC 5186652 (2017) * Shostakovich - Symphony No. 1 & other short works. Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg. PENTATONE PTC 5186622 (2017) * Mahler - Symphony No. 4. Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg. PENTATONE PTC 5186651 (2018) * Debussy - ''La Mer''. Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg. PENTATONE PTC 5186627 (2018) * Stravinsky - ''The Rite of Spring''. Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg. PENTATONE PTC 5186650 (2018) * Rossini - ''Petite Messe Solennelle''. Eleonora Buratto, Sara Mingardo, Kenneth Tarver, Luca Pisaroni, Tobias Berndt, Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg, Wiener Singakademie. PENTATONE PTC 51866797 (2019) * Franck - Symphony in D Minor & Symphonic Variations. Gustavo Gimeno,

Denis Kozhukhin Denis Viktorovich Kozhukhin (; born in Gorky, 2 July 1986) is a Russian pianist who was awarded third prize in the 2006 Leeds International Piano Competition. He was also awarded first prize in the 2010 Belgian Queen Elisabeth Competition for pi ...

, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg. PENTATONE PTC 51866771 (2020) * Rossini - ''Stabat Mater''. Maria Agresta, Daniela Barcellona, René Barbera, Carlo Lepore; Wiener Singverein; Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg; Gustavo Gimeno. harmonia mundi HMM905355 (2022)

References

External links

Official homepage of Gustavo Gimeno

Harrison Parrott biography of Gustavo Gimeno
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimeno, Gustavo Spanish male conductors (music) 1976 births Living people Musicians from Valencia 21st-century Spanish conductors (music) 21st-century Spanish male musicians Spanish male musicians Music directors of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment winners