
Roberto Gonzalez-Monjas
Highly sought-after as a conductor and violinist, Roberto González-Monjas is rapidly making a mark on the international scene. A natural musical leader with strong vision and clarity, he possesses a unique mixture of remarkable personal charisma, an abundance of energy, enthusiasm, and fierce intelligence. He is Chief Conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland (since August 2021), Music Director of the Galicia Symphony Orchestra in Spain (since August 2023), and Chief Conductor of the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg beginning September 2024. In addition, Roberto is Principal Guest Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra (since September 2022), and Artistic Director of Iberacademy in Colombia. The Dalasinfoniettan in Sweden named him Honorary Conductor following a four-year tenure as their Chief Conductor.
Highlights of the 2024/25 season include Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie in London, Salzburg, and Galicia; the European première of Hannah Kendall's He stretches out the north with the Musikkollegium Winterthur; a Spanish tour with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia; appearances at the Mozartwoche, Salzburg, and Verbier Festivals; as well as the recording of Mozart's complete Violin Concertos with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg.
Across the 2024/25 season, Roberto debuts with the Baltimore Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, and Orchestre de Paris, and returns to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. In the 2025/26 season, he will make his debut with the Spanish National Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, as well as at the helm of operatic productions at the Zürich Opera House and the Mozartwoche in Salzburg.
Roberto began his career as a solo violinist, orchestral leader, and chamber musician, appearing as such in the Salzburg, Grafenegg, Lucerne, Verbier, and Lockenhaus festivals. Roberto frequently collaborates with singers and instrumentalists, including Joyce DiDonato, Rolando Villazón, Ian Bostridge, Andrè Schuen, Hilary Hahn, Lisa Batiashvili, Clara-Jumi Kang, Andreas Ottensamer, Fazil Say, Reinhard Goebel, Thomas Quasthoff, András Schiff, Jan Lisiecki, Kirill Gerstein, Yeol Eum Son, Alexandre Kantorow, Paul Lewis, Kit Armstrong, Steven Isserlis, and Emmanuel Ceysson.
Passionate and dedicated to education and nurturing new generations of talented musicians, Roberto co-founded Iberacademy (Ibero-American Orchestral Academy) together with conductor Alejandro Posada. This institution aims at creating an efficient and sustainable model of musical education in Latin America, focusing on vulnerable segments of the population and supporting highly talented young musicians. While based in Medellín (Colombia), it also operates in Bolivia, Perú, Chile, and Cuba, providing its students with life-changing opportunities. In the same line of work, Roberto embarked on a European tour with the Sinfonía por el Perú orchestra and star tenor Juan Diego Flórez, with concerts at the Salzburg, Lucerne, and Gstaad summer festivals. Roberto also serves as a violin professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and regularly mentors and conducts the Guildhall School Chamber and Symphony Orchestras at the Barbican Hall in London.
Mozart Serenades, Roberto's newest CD recording with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg for Berlin Classics, has garnered international praise since its release in Summer 2023. His recordings with the Musikkollegium Winterthur display Roberto's variety of styles and interests, featuring works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schoeck, Prokofiev, C.P.E. Bach, Tarrodi, and Saint-Saëns. A frequent collaborator of Berlin Baroque Soloists, Roberto contributed as a soloist to their Sony Classical release of Bach's Brandenburg Concerti conducted by Reinhard Goebel.
Roberto served as concertmaster of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for six years, and as the leader of the Musikkollegium Winterthur until summer 2021. He plays a 1710 Giuseppe Guarnieri 'filius Andreae' violin kindly loaned to him by five Winterthur families and the Rychenberg Stiftung.
