Andrés Orozco-Estrada

Energy, elegance and spirit – that is what particularly distinguishes Andrés Orozco-Estrada as a musician. He was Principal Conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra from September 2014 to July 2021 and said goodbye in June 2021 with a major concert at the Alte Oper, about which Frankfurter Rundschau wrote: "The image of a balance of human impeccability, communicative passion and the highest professionalism emerged. An orchestra, it was understood, wants to enjoy its work and at the same time make serious musical progress, and of course that sounds easier than it is. But it is precisely the combination of dancelike playfulness and an unconditional search for perfection that obviously distinguishes the Colombian's work."

He led the Houston Symphony Orchestra as Music Director from 2014 to 2022 and was also Chief Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (2020-2022).

Orozco-Estrada regularly conducts Europe's leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Orchestre National de France, as well as major US orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also conducted concerts and opera performances at the Berlin State Opera and the Salzburg Festival with outstanding success.

After his farewell concerts in Houston, where he will conduct Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony, Orozco-Estrada will conclude the 2021/22 Season with his Youth Philharmonic and a major European tour. The orchestra will perform at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Cologne Philharmony and the Wiener Konzerthaus, among others.

Guest conducting engagements in the coming season will take him to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the NDR Elbphilharmonieorchester, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France and the Israel Philharmonic.

He will also return to the podium of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and the Berlin State Opera, where he will conduct the revival of La traviata.

A tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe will take him to the Canary Islands as well as to the Mozartwoche Salzburg. A concert week and a masterclass for conductors with the Orquesta Sinfónica Freixenet de la Escuela Reina Sofía are also planned.

His CD releases on the Pentatone label have received much attention: with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, he made recordings of Stravinsky's Firebird and Rite of Spring, which were praised by critics as "hauntingly beautiful" (Gramophone). His concert recordings of Richard Strauss's operas Salome and Elektra have also enjoyed great success. With the Houston Symphony, he released a “zestful” Dvořák cycle “with warm colours” (Pizzicato). He has also recorded all Brahms and Mendelssohn symphonies.

Born in Medellín, Colombia, Andrés Orozco-Estrada began his musical education by playing the violin, receiving his first conducting lessons at the age of 15. In 1997 he moved to Vienna, where he was accepted into the conducting class of Uroš Lajovic, a student of the legendary Hans Swarowsky, at the renowned Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. In October 2022, Orozco-Estrada will take up his professorship in orchestral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna.