Juanjo Mena, universal Basque baton
Juanjo Mena (Vitoria-Gasteiz, 1965) is the most renowned Basque conductor in the world in recent decades. He began his musical studies and was responsible, among others, for Carmelo Bernaola in the Alavesa capital, and later moved to Madrid.
In 1997, the EGO was appointed artistic director of the Young Orchestra of the Basque Country, which had just premiered, and from 1999 to 2008 was the artistic director and head of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. In 2010, it began as the head director of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra until 2018.
Mena has led many of the world's most prestigious orchestra as guests, including the Bergen Philharmonic (she was the main guest director of the Norwegian band), Berlin, Bamberg, Denmark, France, New York, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore and, of course, the Basque Country Orchestra.
Mena has performed on stage and in studio pieces of Basque masters such as Arambarri, Guridi, Arriaga, Isasi, Usandizaga, Sarasate and Escudero, and is particularly impressed with the Bolero de Rabel.
His brother Carlos Mena is a Contratenor and lives in Legutiano. In 2017 he was awarded the Gold Medal of Álava and in 2018 he was named Favorite Son of Vitoria.
On January 23, 2025, he announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer's and that he was ready to interpret "the most complex score of his life," along with his family, friends and doctors.
Now, he has announced that 2026 will be the last year of the podium, and he will say goodbye to the public.
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