José Escandell - Special Guest Conductor
José Escandell began his musical studies at the Alzira Musical Society under the direction of Maestro Hernández Guirado, later extending his studies at the "Joaquin Rodrigo" Conservatory of Music in Valencia, specialising in saxophone, harmony, counterpoint, composition, choir conducting and orchestra conducting. His facet as a musician focuses mainly on orchestral and opera conducting, a subject he has studied since 1992 with Maestros Cervera Collado and Cervera LLoret.
In 1987 he founded the Alzira Musical Society choir with which he obtained his first successes performing for several years all over Spain, and it was at this time that he began conducting and was at the head of the Alzira Musical Society Youth Band with which he collaborated for more than 20 years.
From 1998 to the present day he has been guest conductor in numerous orchestras. As guest conductor he has conducted the Orchestra of Ploiesti (Romania), the Orchestra of Logroño (Spain), the Chamber Orchestra of Empordà (Spain) with which he collaborates on a regular basis, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Pleven (Bulgaria), the Studio Primo Orchestra (Bulgaria), the Symphony Orchestra and Opera of Russia, the Milano Classical Orchestra (Italy), the Orchestra Cervera Lloret (Spain), the Orchestra of Valencia with which he closes the concert, Orquesta Milano Clásica (Italy), Orquesta Cervera Lloret (Spain), Orquesta Ciudad de Valencia with which he closed the Festival Internacional de Música de Llutxent for two consecutive years, Orquesta EAFIT de Medellín (Colombia), The European Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Antofagasta (Chile) Orquesta de la compañía L. G Artist Management, of which he is currently the chief conductor.
In the operatic world he was assistant conductor to Maestro Collado for more than a decade, with whom he collaborated in the operas La Bohème, Un ballo maschera, La Traviata, La Flauta Mágica, Tosca, Turandot and Carmen, both in Sabadell and at the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona. He worked with Montserat Caballé for several years on various musical projects.
In 2005 he won the Composition Competition of L'Olleria (Valencia), awarding him both the Jury Prize and the Audience Prize.
In 2015 he collaborated with the prestigious opera conductor Maestro Guidarini at the Festival International de Bel Canto in Paris.
In 2021 he toured Spain with the operas TURANDOT, TOSCA with the company L.G Artist Management, performing at the Teatro Principal in Ourense, Teatro Concha Espina in Torrelavega, Teatro de la Paz in Albacete, Teatro Principal in Alicante, Riojaforum....
He has directed on numerous occasions, zarzuelas and lyrical galas among which the titles of "La del manojo de Rosas", "La verbena de la Paloma", "La Gran Jota de la Dolores", "El gato Montés", "Los Claveles"... stand out.
As a teacher, he has given CEFIRE courses for teachers on harmony through history, as well as a course on operatic repertoire for instrumentalists and singers with the collaboration of prestigious teachers such as Anahi Carfi (concertmaster of La Scala deMilán).
Its repertoire covers all genres, periods and styles. From classical polyphony to the most contemporary music.
Among the teachers with whom he has studied we can highlight: Mto Hernández Guirado, Mto Cervera Lloret, Mto. Cervera Collado, Mto.Marian Didú, Mto. Eduardo Cifre, Mto.Tomás Marco, Mta Zulema de la Cruz, Mto Marco Guidarini, Mto Marco Zuccarini....
He has conducted soloists such as: Anahí Carfi ,Javier Agulló, Amparo Navarro, Javier Palacios, Esperanza Rumbau, Vicente Alós, Juan Ferrandis, José Ferrero, Mª José Martos, Svetla Anguelova Krasteva, Lello Narcisi, Ivaylo Deckoff, Silvia Vázquez, Néster Martorell, Olga Perrier, Mali Corvacho, Ángela Lorite, Helena Gallardo, MarianaOrtiz Ignacio Guzmán, Pedro Carrillo...among others.
In 2020 he is part of the jury of the "International Orchestra Auditions Awards" of the Samnium University of music.
In July 2020 he was appointed honorary conductor of K-Classic orchestras, a network of 60 orchestras in South Korea.
In the months of March-April 2022 he toured the most important theatres in Spain (Madrid, Alicante, Valencia, Orense, Vigo, San Sebastian de los Reyes, Santander, Albacete, Toledo, Guadalajara, Valladolid...) with the opera AIDA, a production of LGAM with the collaboration of the National Opera of Moldova. In November 2022 he has toured 15 performances all over Spain with the same company with the opera TOSCA and in March 2023 with the opera EL BARBERO DE SEVILLA for more than 20 performances.
During the autumn of 2023 he is touring the best Spanish theatres with the operas NORMA and TRAVIATA with the orchestra of the company L.G Artist Management and singers and chorus of the National Opera of Moldova. In the spring of 2024 he is planning a tour with the same company for the opera OTELLO. As guest conductor he plans to conduct the Orquesta Nacional de Panamá, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Cali (Colombia) as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica EAFIT de Medellín (Colombia) in the summer of 2024.