A passionate musician committed to engaging audiences with thrilling performances, Spanish conductor Felix Ardanaz is gaining a reputation as a musician equally versed in symphonic repertoire, opera and contemporary music.
Felix Ardanaz is fluent in five languages: English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. His repertoire as a conductor expands from the Baroque era to contemporary music. Felix Ardanaz shows an interdisciplinary approach to art: he enlarged his artistic background by studying architecture in Paris. Ardanaz is involved in various programs to involve the new generation of musicians, reach new audiences and make classical music accessible.
Ardanaz has worked as a conductor with a broad number of orchestras, among them: Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (ORF); Orchestra of the Spanish Radio and Television (ORTVE); Tokyo Sinfonia; BBC National Orchestra (BBC NOW); Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra; Hungarian National Orchestra; Prague Philharmonia (PKF); North Czech Philharmonic and Morovian Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic); Franz Joseph Haydn Orchestra (Vienna); Berlin Sinfonietta; Aspen Festival Orchesta; Bilbao Symphony Orchestra; National Orchestra of the Basque Country; Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra; Asturias Symphony Orchestra; Extremadura Philharmonic Orchestra, Murcia Symphony Orchestra; La Rioja Philharmonic; Chigiana Orchestra in Siena; London Sinfonietta; Proarte Orchestra in Vienna; Juilliard School Orchestra, among others.
In April 2025, he took the podium at the Ukrainian National Opera House in Kyiv to conduct Bizet’s Carmen, marking the 150th anniversary of the opera’s historic premiere. His recent engagements as a conductor include performances with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (ORF) and the BBC National Orchestra in the United Kingdom.
Felix Ardanaz has performed in the following venues: Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall (New York), Wiener Konzerthaus and Musikverein (Vienna), Mozarteum (Salzburg), Smetana Hall (Prague), Wigmore Hall (London), Palau de la Musica (Barcelona), National Auditorium (Madrid), Prado Museum, Guggemheim Museum, Aspen Festival, among others. He has worked at the Metropolitan Opera House, Opera di Roma and the Royal Opera House (London) as assistant conductor. Additionally, he has conducted more than 15 opera titles.
After finishing his Piano and Conducting Degrees in the Basque Country (Musikene), he specialized in conducting at the Frederic Chopin University in Warsaw and the Ecole Normale in Paris. Afterwards, he obtained a Masters with distinction at the Royal Academy of Music in London and completed a Postgraduate Degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (MDW). He was a conducting fellow at Aspen Festival, and studied at Tanglewood Music Institute and the Chigiana Academy in Siena as well. His conducting mentors are Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Spano, Simeon Pironkoff, Daniele Gatti, Yves Abel, and Johannes Debus.
His discography consists of six albums with works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel and the great masters of the French Baroque school. His performances have been transmitted by the following radio stations: France Musique, BBC Radio 3, Classical Music America and the Spanish National Radio. He has received multiple prizes at international competions, as well as the Critics’ Award of the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, “Golden Melomano” recording award in Spain, and the Fulbright grant. He has recently been nominated to the prestigious International Classical Music Awards (ICMA 2021).
