Miguel Harth-Bedoya

Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is a master of colour, drawing idiomatic interpretations from a wide range of repertoire in concerts across the globe.

He has amassed considerable experience at the helm of orchestras with 2018/19 his sixth season as Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and his 19th season as Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Previously he has held Music Director positions with the Auckland Philharmonia and Eugene Symphony.

Harth-Bedoya regularly conducts the upper level of American orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Cleveland, Minnesota, New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras. Following his exceptional tenure as Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the early years of his career, Harth-Bedoya’s “special chemistry” (LA Times) with the orchestra remains strong and he returns each season as a guest conductor.

With his experienced toolkit and exceptional charisma, Harth-Bedoya has nurtured a number of close relationships with orchestras worldwide and is a frequent guest of the Helsinki Philharmonic, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, National Orchestra of Spain, Atlanta Symphony, New Zealand Symphony and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. Other recent appearances include concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony, London Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Zurich Tonhalle, Danish National Symphony and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestras. Summer 2016 saw his Japanese debut conducting both the NHK Symphony and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras, whilst highlights this season include performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, RTVE Madrid, Orchestre Philharmonique du Strasbourg, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orquesta Simfonica de Barcelona and the Orquesta Nacioniales de España.

In 2015 Harth-Bedoya conducted the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s first opera Cold Mountain at Santa Fe Opera the recording of which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Previous opera engagements include a new production of La Bohèmeat English National Opera directed by Jonathan Miller and appearances with the Canadian Opera Company, Minnesota Opera and Santa Fe Opera. He has led two productions of Golijov’s Ainadamar, with the Cincinnati Opera and recently at the New Zealand Festival.

With a ferocious appetite for unearthing new South American repertoire, Miguel Harth-Bedoya is the founder and Artistic Director of Caminos Del Inka, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching, performing and preserving the rich musical legacy of South America. He commissioned moving images to accompany a symphonic programme and the resulting multimedia project has so far been performed by the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Residentie Orkest and MDR Sinfonie Leipzig. In June 2017 he launched an online catalogue www.latinorchestralmusic.com.

Harth-Bedoya’s 2016 release on Harmonia Mundi, Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra and Brahms arr Schoenberg Piano Quartet with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra was highly praised by The Guardian“[it] shines out with its precision, vigour and clarity of sound”. Other recent releases on Harmonia Mundi include Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra and Brahms arr Schoenberg Piano Quartet, orchestral works by Jimmy Lopez, the complete Prokofiev Piano Concertos with Cliburn winner Vadym Kholodenko, and piano concertos by Grieg and Saint-Saëns which was awarded “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone. Previous recordings include Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago with the Chicago Symphony and Yo-Yo Ma, which received two Grammy nominations, music by Osvaldo Golijov with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon and pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque on Deutsche Grammophon and Sentimiento Latino with Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flores on Decca.