Music Director of the New Mexico Symphony, former Music Director of the Puerto Rico Symphony and now it’s Principal Guest Conductor, Guillermo Figueroa’s intense, passionate musicianship and elegant technique have earned him international recognition.

Critical acclaim also followed the debuts of the Puerto Rico Symphony, under Figueroa’s baton, at Carnegie Hall in 2003, the Kennedy Center in 2004 and Spain in 2005.

As a Guest Conductor he has appeared with the symphony orchestras of New Jersey, Memphis, Phoenix, Iceland, Colorado, El Salvador, Xalapa (Mexico), Tucson, Santa Fe, Toledo, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Baltic Philharmonic in Poland, Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango as well as many performances conducting the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center. This season marks his debut with the Fairfax, Berkeley, San Jose and New England Conservatory orchestras.

Mr. Figueroa has collaborated with many of the leading artists of our time, including Itzhak Perlman, YoYo Ma, Hilary Hahn, Placido Domingo, Olga Kern, Janos Starker, James Galway, Midori, Horacio Gutierrez, the Emerson String Quartet, Ben Hepner, Rachel Barton Pine, Pepe Romero, Elmar Oliveira, Gary Graffman, Vladimir Feltsman, Barry Douglas, Jennifer Larmore, and Michelle De Young.

A Berlioz specialist, he created the most comprehensive Berlioz Festival in the US in 2003 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of that composer.

A committed believer in new music, Mr. Figueroa has premiered works by many important composers, such as Roberto Sierra, Mario Davidovsky, Ernesto Cordero, Miguel del Aguila and Harold Farberman.

Also a renowned violinist, Figueroa is a Founding Member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. With this group he has been Concertmaster and soloist in performances throughout the US, Europe and Asia and made over fifty recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. In 1995 he gave the world premiere of Concertino for violin and orchestra by Mario Davidovsky, at Carnegie Hall, written for him and Orpheus. In 2007 he played the premiere of the Double Concerto written for him by Harold Farberman, with the American Symphony at Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center.

For ten years he was Concertmaster of the New York City Ballet, appearing in over a hundred performances of violin concerti by Barber, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Berg, and Adams. He has appeared at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music in the Vineyards in California, Music from Angel Fire and the El Paso Pro Musica Chamber Festival.

With his violinist wife Valerie Turner, they are the Founders and Artistic Directors of the highly acclaimed Festival de Musica Rondena chamber series in Albuquerque. As part of Puerto Rico’s most distinguished musical family he has appeared with the Figueroa Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Kennedy Center.

Figueroa has recorded the Three Violin Sonatas by Bartok for the Eroica Classical label, with pianist Robert Koenig, and an album of virtuoso violin music by Wieniawski, Sarasate and Kreisler for the NMSO label, with pianist Ivonne Figueroa.

Mr. Figueroa studied with his father and uncle at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. At the Juilliard School his teachers were Oscar Shumsky and Felix Galimir. His conducing studies were with Harold Farberman in New York.

For more information, please visit www.nmso.com