Spain, Portugal & Latin America
Chilean conductor, Luis Toro Araya continues to attract international attention, this season making debuts with Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and Orchestre de Picardie. He maintains a close relationship with Orquesta Nacional de España, formerly holding the position of Assistant Conductor, and returns this season for a programme including Mahler.
He has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Concepción (Chile) from March 2025.
The 2023/24 season saw Luis make debuts with Dresdner Philharmonie, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española and Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago, as well as return to Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias. Luis was a 2022/23 Los Angeles Dudamel Fellow, making his debut with the orchestra that season.
Other recent highlights include concerts with Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege, Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Camerata Salzburg, Berner Symphonieorchester, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Filharmonie Hradec Králové and Olten Filarmoni of Izmir.
Luis was a finalist at the 2021 Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Competition Salzburg, as well as the 2022 International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, where he was awarded both the audience and opera prizes.
Born in 1995 in San Vicente de Tagua, Chile, Luis studied violin at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile and at the Modern School of Music with Alberto Dourthé Castrillón. He went on to perform with 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. Luis relocated to Zurich to continue his studies at Zurich University of Arts with Prof. Johannes Schlaefli and University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar with Prof. Nicolás Pasquet. In masterclasses Luis has worked conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Paavo Järvi, James Lowe and Larry Rachleff.
