Robert Treviño, chief conductor



"Treviño forms one symphonic organism that, with its delicate lines, its piercing nine-note chord blocks, venomous scherzos and waltzing dances of death, turns the whole span into the turning of a musical wheel of fortune… Very enthusiastic applause."  (Leipziger Volkszeitung, on Robert Treviño with the CBSO at the Mahler Festival Leipzig, 2023)

“One of the music world’s rising stars…Put him in front of an orchestra and he becomes a human dynamo.” (Gramophone, 2022)

“Startlingly excellent…Treviño maintains irresistible momentum, absorbing each detail into the general crescendo…he doesn’t skimp on the menace, but he and his musicians keep swinging to the end, dancing into darkness.” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 2022)

Mexican-American conductor Robert Treviño has rapidly emerged as one of the most exciting maestros of the younger generation performing today. He serves as the Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.

The 2023/24 season will see Robert Treviño lead the Basque National Orchestra to Salzburg, make his Zurich Opera debut, his La Fenice opera debut, and there will be welcome returns to regular collaborators including Dresdner Philharmonie, Sinfonieorchester Basel, SWR Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, NDR Hannover, Gürzenich Orchester Köln and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Other orchestras Robert Treviño has conducted include the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, CBSO, Münchner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Bamberger Symphoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de Paris, Filarmonica della Scala and Helsinki Philharmonic. He has also conducted a wide variety of orchestras in North America – among them the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Baltimore, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Utah, Toronto and Detroit, as well as at Washington National Opera and the Interlochen Festival. Further afield he has conducted leading ensembles such as the São Paulo Symphony, NHK Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra and St Petersburg Philharmonic. He has led orchestras at many leading festivals, among them Mahler Festival Leipzig, Milan Mahler Festival, Enescu Festival and Puccini Festival.

His recording contract with Ondine has resulted in a widely-praised complete Beethoven symphonies cycle, two much-acclaimed Ravel albums, a Rautavaara album and “Americascapes” – a hugely-admired survey of little-known American masterpieces, that won ‘Best Recording of 2021’ from Presto Music and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award. A cycle of Bruch symphonies with the Bamberger Symphoniker was released by CPO, to universally positive reviews. Lately, in 2023 his new recording “Respighi – Roman Trilogy” with Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI was released to excellent reviews. Between them, Robert Treviño’s recordings have garnered more than 15 accolades from respected reviews publications around the world.

Treviño burst into the international spotlight at the Bolshoi Theater in December 2013, leading a new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo at short notice. The Russian press wrote, “There has not been an American success of this magnitude in Moscow since Van Cliburn.” He was subsequently nominated for a Golden Mask award for “Best Conductor in a New Production”.

Robert Treviño has commissioned, premiered and worked closely with many leading composers, among them John Adams, Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina, George Walker, Jennifer Higdon, Andre Previn, Augusta Read Thomas, Shulamit Ran, Ramon Lazkano and John Zorn.