Picture by Jan Hordijk
Spanish conductor Alejandro Cantalapiedra (Soria, 1994) is attracting growing attention as a true architect of sound. Combining charisma with a keen structural understanding of musical works, he brings a highly distinctive character to his interpretations of the symphonic and operatic repertoire.
From 2023 to 2025, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera, where he worked closely with Chief Conductor Lorenzo Viotti, as well as with guest conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Delyana Lazarova, Hartmut Haenchen, Alexandre Bloch, and Dalia Stasevska. In the operatic field, he took part in productions of Lohengrin, Il Trittico, Die Fledermaus, and Peter Grimes.
He has also worked as assistant conductor at the Dutch National Opera on further productions with conductors including Cornelius Meister (Salome), Marc Albrecht (Königskinder), Vasily Petrenko (Boris Godunov), and Patrick Hahn (Der Freischütz), in addition to collaborating with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
Cantalapiedra conducted the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at the Cello Biënnale (2024) and at the Vest in de Stad Festival in Alkmaar (2023). With the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, he has conducted at the Concertgebouw during the Feestconcert ’25, led the recording of Welkom bij het Orkest, and directed the orchestra’s Summer Festival in 2024 and 2025. These projects included, among others, the popular scratch orchestra, in which amateur musicians performed Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 alongside members of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.
Willem de Bordes, the orchestra’s Artistic Director, has said of him: “He possesses a very clear technique, highly appreciated by the musicians. His overarching sense of large-scale structure, the speed of his rehearsal process, and his tireless energy make him an ideal conductor to work with.”
He made his professional debut in Spain conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias at the Gijón International Piano Festival. In opera, he served as assistant conductor to Lorenzo Viotti in Faust by Gounod in Valencia, and as choir master and assistant conductor in Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen at the Dutch ReisOpera. Shortly he will assist Gustavo Gimeno in The Bartered Bride by Smetana at the Teatro Real.
In the summer of 2022, he made his debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Toonkunstkoor Amsterdam. He was Principal Conductor of the Utrecht Young Orchestra (2019–2024) and founder and Principal Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid(2016–2023). With these youth orchestras, he has conducted in major concert halls such as the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, TivoliVredenburg, and De Doelen Rotterdam.
Cantalapiedra was awarded First Prize at the Second Estoril International Conducting Competition, which led to an invitation to conduct the Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais e Oeiras (Portugal). He is currently selected as a semi-finalist in the Concours de Genève, which includes renowned institutions such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romandeand the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève.
Since his time as a student of Architecture at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Alejandro has developed his artistic career while complementing his musical training with the creation of youth orchestras, aiming to attract audiences initially distant from the formalities of the classical concert. This initiative led to the founding of JOECOM and the UPM Symphony Orchestra, both in Madrid. With these youth ensembles, Alejandro quickly achieved an artistic level rarely imaginable for a musician of his age leading such heterogeneous groups. Thanks to his remarkable energy, he guided these orchestras in performances of Beethoven’s Eroica and Symphony No. 9, as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, at the Auditorio Nacional de España, receiving overwhelming enthusiasm from both audiences and critics.
With a strong pedagogical vocation, Alejandro has been Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Utrecht Conservatory since 2024.
Alejandro began his conducting studies with Juan María Esteban del Pozo and Miguel Romea, before moving to the Netherlands, where he continued his training at Codarts Rotterdam with Hans Leenders, Sander Teepen, and Wiecher Mandemaker. He has also participated in masterclasses with, among others, Antony Hermus, Lorenzo Viotti, and Karel Deseure.