CONDUCTING FELLOW
Praised for her “attention to orchestral colors” (OperaWire) and ability to create “lightning changes in tempo, meter, and effect” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Colombian-American Lina Gonzalez-Granados began her tenure as conducting fellow of The Philadelphia Orchestra with the 2019–20 season. She has distinguished herself nationally and internationally as a talented young conductor of symphonic and operatic repertoire. Her spirted interpretations of the orchestral repertoire, as well as her dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin-American composers, have earned her international recognition, most recently as a recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the Third Prize and ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) Special Award at La Maestra Competition, and the 2020 and 2021 Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.
Winner of the Fourth Chicago Symphony Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, Ms. Gonzalez-Granados became the new Solti Conducting Apprentice under the guidance of Maestro Riccardo Muti beginning in February 2020 and continuing through June 2022. She also holds the position of conducting fellow with the Seattle Symphony. The 2021–22 season highlights includes returns to the New York Philharmonic and Rochester Philharmonic, and debuts with the National Symphony, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony, the Nürnberger Symphoniker, the Filarmonica Arthuro Toscanini, the Kristiansand Symphony, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Polish National Radio Symphony, the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, and the Tenerife Symphony. She will also lead a production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at Dallas Opera.
Ms. Gonzalez-Granados made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut on a Family Concert in March 2020. Other recent appearances include performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, and the Filarmónica de Medellin. She has worked with such world-renowned artists as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Giancarlo Guerrero, Zubin Mehta, and Marin Alsop.
Ms. Gonzalez-Granados is an active and fervent proponent for the inclusion and development of new works for chamber and large orchestra, especially music from Latin-American composers. She is the artistic director of the Unitas Ensemble, a chamber orchestra she founded that performs the works of Latinx composers and provides access to free community performances for underserved communities. Her work with Unitas has earned her numerous community awards, most recently a Spark Boston award from the City of Boston. She has also commissioned multiple world, North American, and American premieres, as well as the creation and release of the Unitas Ensemble album Estaciones, recorded with the Latin Grammy-winning Cuarteto Latinoamericano.
Born and raised in Cali, Colombia, Ms. Gonzalez-Granados made her conducting debut in 2008 with the Youth Orchestra of Bellas Artes in Cali. She earned her master’s degree in conducting, studying with Charles Peltz, and a graduate diploma in choral conducting, studying with Erica Washburn, both from the New England Conservatory. She also holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting from Boston University. Her principal mentors include Ms. Alsop, Bernard Haitink, Bramwell Tovey, and Mr. Nézet-Séguin.
September 2021
Photo by Mariangela Photography