The Venezuelan-born, Spanish conductor José Luis Gómez was catapulted to international attention when he won First Prize at the International Sir Georg Solti Conductors’ Competition in 2010 in Frankfurt, securing a rare, unanimous decision from the jury. Gómez’s electrifying presence, talent, creativity, and energy quickly earned him admiration from the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra’s music director Paavo Järvi and the orchestra’s musicians, immediately launching his conducting career.
Music Director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra since 2016 through the end of the 2029/2030 season, Gómez consistently crafts compelling programs, juxtaposing more standard works with lesser-known composers particularly from his native South America, expanding and enriching the orchestra’s repertoire. He has worked diligently to support the orchestra’s award-winning Young Composer’s Project and has championed new, engaging partnerships and education projects such as the Up Close Chamber music series, Artist-In-Residence series, and the Hispanic Festival “Celebración Latina.” An advocate for new music and collaboration, he is responsible for commissioning works from composers including Arturo Márquez, Michael Torke, Jonathan Leschnoff, Gabriela Smith, Peter Boyer, Jennifer Higdon, and Pulitzer Prize winner and 2023 MacArthur fellow Raven Chacón.
Equally at-home in operatic repertoire, Gómez was Music Director of the Teatro Sociale di Como from 2011-2015, where he led productions of Le Nozze di Figaro, Cavalleria Rusticana and Don Giovanni, working alongside renowned stage director Graham Vick. He spearheaded the project “200.com”, a commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the theater in which one opera production was expanded into the community, inviting members to participate through chorus work, set and costume design, and outreach. This brand-new format resulted in performances with a personal stake for everyone involved and has become a beloved annual tradition in Como. In recognition of the impact of his work on the community, Gómez was awarded the “Premio Città di Como.”
As a guest conductor, he has led performances of Puccini’s La bohème at the Frankfurt Opera, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Wagner´s Der fleigende Holländer at Stuttgart Opera, Verdi’s La Forza del Destino in Tokyo at the New National Theatre, Don Carlo and Norma at The State Opera in Tbilisi, Georgia, La Traviata in concert with Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, and a special Zarzuela Gala at Opera de Tenerife, where he returns for Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette in 2025/26. In the 2023/24 season, he conducted La bohème at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Teatro Coccia in Novara. This summer he also returned to Wolf Trap Opera for a production of Bizet’s Carmen.
Recent and upcoming highlights include debuts and returns with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), conducting a new piece by Paquito D’Rivera featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Omaha Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Symphony San Jose, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Puerto Rico Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Perú, RTVE National Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra (HR), Weimar Staatskapelle, Royal Scottish National, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, George Enescu Philharmonic, Hamburg Symphony, Estonian National Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y Leon, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orchestra Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Sinfonia Varsovia, SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart, orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
