“Pure Rossini and pure sugar with its astonishing covers and tempos, with its sometimes-exacerbated romanticism, with its colors ideally highlighted by a nuanced direction, and always very respectful of the voices, and by a warm and accurate precision always. Beautiful work.”
– La Donna del lago, de Marseille – Michael Egea, Destimed

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 Ópera de A Coruña, the Madrid-born maestro José Miguel Pérez-Sierra is one of the most important conductors of his generation. His work combines operatic and zarzuela repertoire with symphonic music.

He gained international recognition 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, Ópera de A Coruña, ABAO Bilbao Opera, Ópera de Oviedo, Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza, Las Palmas Opera, Tenerife Opera, Theater Basel, Opéra de Marseille, Opéra-Théâtre de Metz, Opéra de Massy, the Rossini in Wildbad Festival, the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków, Naples’ Teatro San Carlo, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Opéra de Montréal, and Chile’s National Opera, among many others.

Highlights of the 2025/2026 season include El barberillo de Lavapiés at Theater Basel; Pelléas et Mélisande at Ópera de A Coruña; Benamor at 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; and a Zarzuela Gala at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, in addition to his annual commitments with the Royal Opera Festival in Kraków and the Rossini in Wildbad Festival.

In the 2024/2025 season, he conducted Puccini’s La bohème at Ópera de A Coruña; 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 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.

During the 2023/2024 season, he conducted Aida for the season opening at Ópera de A Coruña; Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi at Ópera de Oviedo; Dialogues des Carmélites at the Opéra de Massy; Samson et Dalila at Ópera de Tenerife and the season-closing gala at Ópera de A Coruña; a concert with soprano Lise Davidsen at Madrid’s Teatro Real; Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Coccia in Novara; La bohème at Ópera de Las Palmas; Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder with soprano Miren Urbieta Vega and the Orquesta Joven de la OSG; 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 in Wildbad Festival, where in 2024 he received the “Rossini in Cima” award for his dedication to the “Swan of Pesaro,” marking 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 and Aida in Las Palmas; two Rossini concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris; 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 in Wildbad Festival; Il signor Bruschino, Armida, La scala di seta, El barberillo de Lavapiés, Luisa Fernanda, Messa di Gloria and 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 the Opéra de Marseille; Rigoletto at the Opéra de Massy; Carmen, Tosca, Il trittico and Il turco in Italia at the Opéra de Metz; Les pêcheurs de perles in Oviedo; Don Fernando el Emplazado (Zubiaurre), Viva la Mamma!, and the International Opera Awards Gala at Madrid’s Teatro Real; Pagliacci, Norma and Aida, 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’Île-de-France, Tbilisi Symphony (Georgia), Filarmónica de Montevideo, Filarmónica de Santiago (Chile), Robert Schumann Philharmonie, Orchestra of the Teatro di 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).