Mozarteumorchester Salzburg appoints chief conductor

Austria's Mozarteumorchester Salzburg has announced the appointment of Roberto González-Monjas to the role of chief conductor. The Spanish conductor will succeed current chief conductor Riccardo Minasi, who has held the role since 2017.

Currently a permanent guest conductor with the orchestra, González-Monjas will take up his new position from the 2024/25 season. In his guest conductor role González-Monjas has been a frequent collaborator with the Mozarteumorchester as a conductor, violin soloist and chamber musician since 2019.

Mozarteumorchester’s general manager Siegwald Bütow said: ‘With Roberto González-Monjas, we have gained an internationally distinguished conductor and musician who embodies what our institution is all about: the constant renewal and revitalization of the music of all epochs, but especially the works of Mozart. With his remarkable artistic abilities, profound knowledge of tradition, curiosity and contagious enthusiasm, Roberto González-Monjas is the ideal chief conductor for the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg.’

To mark the beginning of this new collaboration, the orchestra will release an album of Mozart’s ‘Colloredo’ Serenade and Serenata Notturna in summer 2023 on Berlin Classics. González-Monjas next concert with the orchestra, a programme of works by Ibert, Mozart and Poulenc, is scheduled for 11 May in Salzburg’s Grosse Universitätsaula.

Having studied at Salzburg’s Mozarteum University, González-Monjas is passionate about the works and life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Alongside his new position, he will continue to hold the role of chief conductor of both the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Swedish chamber orchestra Dalasinfoniettan. He is also designate music director of Spain’s Galicia Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra and artistic director of Iberacademy in Colombia, which he co-founded with fellow conductor Alejandro Posada.

Commenting on his new appointment, González-Monjas said: ‘I fell in love with the orchestra during our first encounter, back in 2019; it felt as if we spoke the same language, and I truly admired its musicians' eloquence and musical intelligence. Over the years, our connection only grew stronger, and every further collaboration became a source of inspiration and joy. For someone as fascinated as I am by the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it is deeply humbling to be taking over the reins of this historical orchestra.’