Juanjo Mena began his career as Artistic Director of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. He has spent time as the Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Associate Conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, leading the orchestra on tours across Europe and Asia and conducting concerts at the BBC Proms and the Cincinnati May Festival.
He has conducted the most prestigious ensembles in Europe and North America, including the Berlin, London, Oslo, New York, and Los Angeles Philharmonics, as well as the Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Montreal, Pittsburgh, and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. In Asia, he is a regular guest conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and in Spain, he frequently works with the country’s leading orchestras.
In September 2022, he conducted the Royal Theatre Orchestra in its historic debut at Carnegie Hall, New York. His recent and upcoming projects include engagements with the New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Gürzenich Orchester Köln and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. In Europe, he returns to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Spain, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Catalonia, the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Fenice and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few.
As an Opera Conductor, he has taken on great works from the romantic repertoire, such as Der fliegende Holländer, Salome, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos, Duke Bluebeard and Erwartung, and productions such as Eugene Onegin in Geneva, La vida breve in Madrid, Le nozze di Figaro in Lausanne, Billy Budd and Fidelio in Bilbao.
Juanjo Mena studied conducting with Sergiu Celibidache after completing his musical training at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, where he was mentored by Carmelo Bernaola and Enrique García Asensio. In 2016, he received Spain’s National Music Award.
He lives with his family in his native Basque Country.
