Pablo Heras-Casado

Pablo Heras-Casado (born 1977) is a Spanish conductor.

The son of a retired police officer, he began singing with a school choir at the age of seven and piano lessons at the age of nine.

He studied music at the conservatory in Granada.

He later attended the Universidad de Granada, concentrating on art history and acting.

He studied conducting further at the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares.

His conducting teachers have included Harry Christophers and Christopher Hogwood.

In the mid-1990s, Heras-Casado participated in the founding of the early music ensemble Capella Exaudi.

At the Universidad de Granada, he helped found the ensemble SONÓORA, with a focus on modernist and avant-garde music.

In 2000/01, he was an assistant conductor with the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España.

He founded the Barroca de Granada Orchestra in 2002.

In 2004, he established an "International Choral Conducting Masterclass" in Valle de Ricote (Murcia).

In 2006/07, he was an assistant conductor with the Opéra de Paris.

In 2007, Heras-Casado cofounded La Compañía Teatro del Principe, a period instrument ensemble based in Aranjuez, Spain which focuses on neglected operas of the Spanish baroque era.

Heras-Casado's honours have included winning the Lucerne Festival Conductors' Competition in 2007.

His work in contemporary music has included conducting the world premieres of Marc-Olivier Dupin's ballet Les enfants du paradis for Opéra National de Paris (2008) and of the opera Matsukaze by Toshio Hosokawa (2011).

Outside of Spain, Heras-Casado made his US debut in June 2008 with the Ensemble ACJW at Carnegie Hall, New York.

His UK debut followed in August 2008 with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

He received the "Critical Eye" prize of Radio Clásica, part of RTVE, in November 2010.

He has conducted commercial recordings for the harmonia mundi, Decca Classics, and Deutsche Grammophon labels.

Heras-Casado first conducted the Orchestra of St. Luke's in the summer of 2011.

In December 2011, the orchestra announced the appointment of Heras-Casado as its principal conductor, with immediate effect, and with an initial contract through 2015.

He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2013 conducting Michael Mayer's production of Rigoletto.

In May 2014, the orchestra announced the extension of his contract through the 2016/17 season.

In September 2014, he was appointed the next principal guest conductor of the Teatro Real in Madrid, with an initial contract of three seasons over the period 2015–2018.

Musical America’s 2014 Conductor of the Year, Pablo Heras-Casado holds the Medalla de Honor of the Rodriguez Acosta Foundation and the Ambassador Award of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

He is an Honorary Ambassador and recipient of the Golden Medal of Merit by the Council of Granada, as well as an Honorary Citizen of the Province of Granada, his hometown.

In the 2016 season he debuted with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Melk Barocktage.

He will also become the Orchestra of St. Luke’s first Conductor Laureate, a new position created for him, starting in the 2017/18 season.

In 2017, Pablo Heras-Casado was appointed as Director of the Granada Festival, presenting his first edition of the festival in summer of 2018 with resounding success, reaching 92.7% occupancy and welcoming more than 45,000 audience members.

In 2018 he is bestowed by the French Republic the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres as well as “Embajador Solidario 2019” by Fundación Ayuda en Acción.

The concert on 9 June 2019, marked his 1,000th career concert, conducting the Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker and soprano Nika Gorič at the Berliner Philharmonie.