Biography
Conductor José Antonio Montaño possesses wide-ranging skills across many genres yet concentrates chiefly on Spanish repertoire from the eighteenth century, having established the period-instrument group La Madrileña, where he continues as artistic head. He also maintains a strong presence as a teacher.
Born in Madrid during 1975, Montaño completed studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid together with the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, receiving diplomas in piano, harpsichord, and music pedagogy. His conducting instruction arrived from Jesús López Cobos, Evelino Pidò, and Pinchas Steinberg, among additional mentors. Opera engagements began to appear for him toward the close of the 1990s, with particular attention to eighteenth-century Spanish scores, although his programming has reached forward to encompass Benjamin Britten’s children’s opera Let’s Make an Opera (“The Little Sweep”), Op. 45. As a composer, Montaño created the opera La ciudad de Hamelin, which received the Opera J prize, and he supplied the choral piece Arrión on commission from the Coro de Cámara de Madrid. Between 2003 and 2013 he held the post of principal conductor with the Orquesta Escuela de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, directing both symphonic programs and staged opera and ballet productions; his activity in those theatrical forms has continued unabated. Several projects for the Ballet Nacional de España fell under his baton. From 2007 until 2009 he simultaneously served as principal conductor of the Orquesta de la Universidad Juan Carlos III in Madrid.
In January 2016 Montaño launched the historical-instrument ensemble La Madrileña, whose name denotes its Madrid origins, and he has remained its conductor and music director. Appearances with the ensemble have taken place at prominent Spanish sites such as Madrid’s Teatro Real and Teatro de la Zarzuela, Bilbao’s Teatro Arriaga, and Pamplona’s Auditorio Baluarte, as well as at La Scala in Milan and additional theaters in Russia and Belgium. Extensive guest-conducting engagements throughout Spain and abroad have included the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, the Real Filharmonía of Galicia, and the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. In 2018 the Festival de Arte Sacro of the Community of Madrid engaged him to lead José de Nebra’s Requiem in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death; a recording of the work, featuring La Madrileña under Montaño, appeared on the Pan Classics label the following year. Numerous performances have incorporated his own musicological investigations, which include an extensive digital archive comprising four thousand arias drawn from texts by librettist Pietro Metastasio. Montaño and La Madrileña re-emerged in 2023 on the Sony Classical label with the album Dixerunt, joined by countertenor Carlos Mena.
Born in Madrid during 1975, Montaño completed studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid together with the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, receiving diplomas in piano, harpsichord, and music pedagogy. His conducting instruction arrived from Jesús López Cobos, Evelino Pidò, and Pinchas Steinberg, among additional mentors. Opera engagements began to appear for him toward the close of the 1990s, with particular attention to eighteenth-century Spanish scores, although his programming has reached forward to encompass Benjamin Britten’s children’s opera Let’s Make an Opera (“The Little Sweep”), Op. 45. As a composer, Montaño created the opera La ciudad de Hamelin, which received the Opera J prize, and he supplied the choral piece Arrión on commission from the Coro de Cámara de Madrid. Between 2003 and 2013 he held the post of principal conductor with the Orquesta Escuela de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, directing both symphonic programs and staged opera and ballet productions; his activity in those theatrical forms has continued unabated. Several projects for the Ballet Nacional de España fell under his baton. From 2007 until 2009 he simultaneously served as principal conductor of the Orquesta de la Universidad Juan Carlos III in Madrid.
In January 2016 Montaño launched the historical-instrument ensemble La Madrileña, whose name denotes its Madrid origins, and he has remained its conductor and music director. Appearances with the ensemble have taken place at prominent Spanish sites such as Madrid’s Teatro Real and Teatro de la Zarzuela, Bilbao’s Teatro Arriaga, and Pamplona’s Auditorio Baluarte, as well as at La Scala in Milan and additional theaters in Russia and Belgium. Extensive guest-conducting engagements throughout Spain and abroad have included the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, the Real Filharmonía of Galicia, and the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. In 2018 the Festival de Arte Sacro of the Community of Madrid engaged him to lead José de Nebra’s Requiem in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death; a recording of the work, featuring La Madrileña under Montaño, appeared on the Pan Classics label the following year. Numerous performances have incorporated his own musicological investigations, which include an extensive digital archive comprising four thousand arias drawn from texts by librettist Pietro Metastasio. Montaño and La Madrileña re-emerged in 2023 on the Sony Classical label with the album Dixerunt, joined by countertenor Carlos Mena.
Albums
