Conductor Juanjo Mena began his career as artistic director of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. He has been principal guest conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic and the orchestra of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. In 2011 he was appointed principal conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, taking the orchestra on tours of Europe and Asia and conducting BBC Proms concerts.
Juanjo Mena has conducted the most prestigious orchestras in Europe and North America, including the Berlin, London, Oslo, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras; and the Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Montreal, Pittsburgh and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. In Asia he is a regular guest conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra and in Spain he works assiduously with the top orchestras.
In September 2022, he conducted the Orchestra of the Teatro Real in its historic debut at Carnegie Hall, New York. His upcoming engagements include projects with the Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Titular del Teatro de la Zarzuela, Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi, Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Gürzenich Orquesta Cologne, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2016 Juanjo Mena was awarded the Spanish National Music Prize.
