José Miguel Pérez-Sierra
Conductor
Musical Director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, Artistic Director of the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków, and Principal Guest Conductor of the opera season at Asociación Amigos de la Ópera de A Coruña, the Madrid-born maestro José Miguel Pérez-Sierra is one of the most important conductors of his generation, and his work combines operatic and zarzuela repertoire with symphonic music.
He gained international fame in 2006 after conducting Il viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro. Trained under maestros Gabriele Ferro, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Colin Metters, Alberto Zedda, and Lorin Maazel, he made his debut in 2005 with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and is a regular guest at Madrid’s Teatro Real and Teatro de la Zarzuela, Valencia’s Palau de les Arts, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Pamplona’s Fundación Baluarte, A Coruña Opera, ABAO Bilbao Opera, Oviedo Opera, Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza, Opéra de Marseille, Opéra-Théâtre de Metz, Opéra de Massy, the Rossini Festival in Wildbad, the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków, Naples’ Teatro San Carlo, Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra de Montréal, and Chile’s National Opera, among many others.
In the 2025/2026 season, he will conduct El barberillo de Lavapiés at the Theater Basel; Pélleas et Mélisande at A Coruña Opera; Benamor at the Theater an der Wien; Lucia di Lammermoor at Toulouse’s Théâtre du Capitole; Jugar con fuego at the Teatro de la Zarzuela; Verdi’s Requiem at the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz; El Gato Montés at the Teatro de la Zarzuela; a Zarzuela Gala at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper; in addition to his annual commitments with the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków and the Rossini Festival in Wildbad.
In the 2024/2025 season, notable engagements include Puccini’s La bohème at A Coruña Opera; a new production of Arrieta’s Marina at the Teatro de la Zarzuela; Bretón’s La Verbena de la Paloma at Valencia’s Palau de les Arts; Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at Madrid’s Teatro Real; his debut at the Theater Basel with Turandot; his debut at the Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse with Norma; Mahler’s Ninth Symphony with the Kraków Philharmonic; Sorozábal’s La tabernera del puerto at the Teatro de la Zarzuela; La tabernera del puerto with the Kraków Philharmonic; and Pierre de Médicis (Poniatowski) and La Cenerentola at the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków and the Rossini Festival in Wildbad.
In his 2023/2024 season, he conducted Aida opening the season at Amigos de la Ópera de A Coruña; Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi at Oviedo Opera; Dialogues des Carmélites at the Opéra de Massy; Samson et Dalila at Tenerife Opera and the closing gala of A Coruña Opera; a concert with soprano Lise Davidsen at Madrid’s Teatro Real; Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Coccia in Novara; La Bohème at Las Palmas Opera; Mahler’s Sixth Symphony with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga; La verbena de la paloma at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela; El amor brujo and La vida breve at the Opéra de Metz; Luisa Fernanda with the Kraków Philharmonic; and Messa di Gloria and L’Italiana in Algeri at the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków and the Rossini Festival in Wildbad (Germany), where in 2024 he received the «Rossini in Cima» award for his dedication to the «Swan of Pesaro» after ten years of conducting at the German festival.
In recent seasons, he has conducted I puritani, L’elisir d’amore, Maria Stuarda, Lucrezia Borgia, La sonnambula, and Il barbiere di Siviglia at ABAO Bilbao Opera; La cenerentola in Montréal; Turandot, L’elisir d’amore, Aida, and La bohème in Las Palmas; Samson et Dalila in Tenerife; two Rossini concerts at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; Il signor Bruschino, Armida, La scala di seta, Matilde di Shabran, L’equivoco stravagante, Aureliano in Palmira, Messa di Gloria and L’italiana in Algeri at the Rossini Festival in Wildbad; Il signor Bruschino, Armida, La scala di seta, El barberillo de Lavapiés, Luisa Fernanda, Messa di Gloria, L’italiana in Algeri, at the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków; Il turco in Italia, La cenerentola, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and L’italiana in Algeri at Chile’s National Opera; La donna del lago, Armida, and Les Huguenots at Opéra de Marseille; Rigoletto and Dialogues des carmélites at the Opéra de Massy in Paris; Carmen, Tosca, Il trittico, Il turco in Italia, El amor brujo, and La vida breve at Metz Opera; Les pêcheurs de perles, Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi in Oviedo; Don Fernando el Emplazado (Zubiaurre), Viva la Mamma!, and the International Opera Awards Gala at Madrid’s Teatro Real; Pagliacci, Norma, Aida, and La bohème in A Coruña; Carmen with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg; Verdi’s Requiem with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Real; Madama Butterfly at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu; as well as concerts with Lise Davidsen, Mariella Devia, and Roberto Alagna.
José Miguel Pérez-Sierra regularly collaborates with orchestras such as the Sinfónica de Madrid, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Orquesta de Radio Televisión Española (ORTVE), Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Oviedo Filarmonía, Sinfónica de Navarra Pablo Sarasate, Euskadiko Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Sinfónica de Tenerife, Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Filarmónica de Málaga, Orquesta de Córdoba, Simfònica de les Illes Balears, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France, Tbilisi Symphony (Georgia), Filarmónica de Montevideo, Filarmónica de Santiago (Chile), Robert Schumann Philharmonie, Orchestra of the San Carlo in Naples, and Virtuosi Brunensis, among others.
His discography highlights include Symphonies Nos. 4 and 9 by Illarramendi with the Euskadiko Orkestra (Sony); recitals with Marianna Pizzolato (Naxos) and Vittorio Prato (Illiria); as well as the operas Adelson e Salvini by Bellini (Bongiovanni), Ricciardo e Zoraïde, Matilde di Shabran, Aureliano in Palmira, L’equivoco stravagante, La scala di seta, and Armida (Naxos); and Manon Lescaut on DVD (Unitel).