"Music is all about emotions", says Luis Toro Araya. The Chilean conductor continues to attract international attention for his brilliant career. The 23/24 season marks his renewal as Assistant Conductor of the Orquesta Nacional de España and multiple debuts with orchestras such as the Opera Nacional de Chile, the Orquesta Sinfónica RTVE and the Dresdner Philharmonie. Toro Araya transmits to the audience performances fall of emotion, engaging with musicians in a personal, energising way. By maintaining a focus on high standards in group performance, he brings a wide palette of subtle yet powerful colours to the concert platform.
Luis Toro Araya begins this season renewing his collaboration as Assistant Conductor of the Orquesta Nacional de España. During 2023 he was also part of the Dudamel Fellowship of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, collaborating with conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta and Susanna Mälkki. He lead the orchestra in acclaimed performances of Stravinksy's The Firebird.
Toro Araya has successfully participated in different competitions, being a finalist of the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award 2021, giving an electrifying performance of Beethoven's 4th Symphony with the Camerata Salzburg in the 100th edition of the Salzburg Festival. He is also a prize winner at the International Opera Conducting Competition in Liege and winner of the Opera Award and the Audience Award at the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam (ICCR). The 2022/23 season included successful debuts with orchestras such as the Orquesta Nacional de España, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias and Orquesta de Cámara de Valdivia. Future engagements include concerts in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Latin America.
Born 1995 in San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Chile, he studied violin at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile and at the Modern School of Music with Alberto Dourthe Castrillon. He was later part of the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile from 2014 until 2017. In 2015 he began his orchestral conducting studies with conductors such as Jorge Rotter, Leonid Grin, Garrett Keast and Helmuth Reichel Silva.
In masterclasses, he has been able to work with conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Paavo Järvi, James Lowe and Larry Rachleff. Luis Toro Araya studied orchestral conducting at the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar with Prof. Nicolas Pasquet and at the Zurich University of Arts with Prof. Johannes Schlaefli.