Hyperion Records

Juanjo Mena has established a reputation as a major force on the conducting scene, working with many of the foremost orchestras throughout Europe and the USA. He has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (1999–2008) and Chief Guest Conductor of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (2007–2010), and is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway. He took up the position of Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 2011.

Born in Vitoria in Spain, Juanjo Mena began his musical training at the Vitoria-Gasteiz Conservatory (Basque Country). He studied composition and orchestration with Carmelo Bernaola and conducting with Enrique García Asensio at the Royal Higher Conservatory of Music in Madrid where he received the Prize of Honour. He was awarded a Guridi-Bernaola scholarship to study in Munich with Sergiu Celibidache. In 2002 he was awarded the Ojo Crítico Prize by Radio Nacional de España in recognition of his career and dedication to contemporary music.

Juanjo Mena’s guest engagements include the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra Filarmónica della Scala, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, RAI Torino, Dresden Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfonica RTVE and the Orquesta y Coro de Comunidad de Madrid. In the USA he has conducted the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony orchestras.