Gustavo Gimeno

Bio

408 Words

Gustavo Gimeno’s tenure as the tenth Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra began in 2020/21. Since his appointment, he has reinvigorated the artistic profile of the orchestra, engaged with musicians and audiences alike, and brought performances of familiar works as well as some of today’s freshest sounds. Further, he has overseen renewed community engagement and sown the seeds for an ambitious program of commissioning new works from emerging and established composers.

During the 2025/26 season, Gimeno and the TSO explore major symphonic works—including Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 6, 8, and 9, Prokofiev’s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9—as well as vital compositions from contemporary creators. Gimeno shares the stage with, among other soloists, Lang Lang, María Dueñas, Pablo Ferrández, Abel Selaocoe, and Anoushka Shankar. Highlighting their international presence, Gimeno and the orchestra embark on a six-country European tour, performing with soloists Bruce Liu, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Anna Prohaska, and Christina Landshamer.

February 2024 saw the release of the first commercial recording Gimeno and the TSO made together, in May 2023, memorializing Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie as part of a new multi-disc partnership with Harmonia Mundi. It received the 2025 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble). Subsequent recordings with Harmonia Mundi have included Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin. This builds on Gimeno’s relationship with the label, for which he recorded Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, and Stravinsky’s ballets The Firebird and Apollon musagète with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg (OPL).

Gimeno served as Music Director of OPL for a decade, beginning in the 2015/16 season. The 2025/26 season marks his inaugural year as Music Director of Madrid’s Teatro Real. As an opera conductor, he has appeared at renowned houses such as the Liceu Opera Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, and Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia. He is also much sought-after as a symphonic guest conductor worldwide: In 2025/26, he débuts with the New York Philharmonic and returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and recent highlights include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Berliner Philharmoniker.In March 2025, Gimeno was appointed a Commander of the Order of Civil Merit by His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain. Additionally, following Gimeno’s tenure with OPL, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg appointed him an Officer of the Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau.

Images

TSO_Tour_Asset_Photo: Allan CabralPhoto: Allan Cabral

Gustavo Gimeno Conducts TSO Dress Rehearsal-210(@Stuart Lowe)Photo: Allan CabralGustavo Gimeno (photo credit_Marco Borggreve)

Photo: Christopher WahlGustavo Gimeno Conducts Firebird-Z7-2-287-(@Stuart-Lowe) (2)Gustavo Gimeno (Photo by Christopher Wahl)