Iván del Prado Arriaza

Recognized as one of the most outstanding orchestra conductors in Cuba and Latin America. In 2022 he is the artistic and musical director of the Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua.

His repertoire is extensive and his versatility has been proven in symphonic music, opera, and ballet.

He began his music studies at the José María Ochoa school in his native city; later he graduated at the intermediate level in violin from the Escuela Provincial de Música de Camagüey; in 1988 he entered the Instituto Superior de Arte, where he studied orchestra conducting with Gonzálo Romeu, Guida Vierich, and Guido López-Gavilán.

Starting in 1993, he began working as assistant conductor with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, with which he has accompanied in Cuba and abroad pianists Jorge Luis Prats and Frank Fernández, guitarist Rey Guerra, and singer José Carreras. He conducted the accompanying orchestra of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba on a tour through New York, United States.

Characterized by critics as an energetic and passionate conductor, Dr. del Prado has been Director of the MSYO in Alabama and adjunct professor and assistant conductor at The University of Southern Mississippi. Furthermore, he is Artistic Director of the international Premier Orchestral Institute festival organized by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Mississippi.

Maestro del Prado has been principal conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, the Orquesta del Gran Teatro de La Habana, the Orquesta de Baja California, and the Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana.

He has conducted the most important symphonic ensembles in Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America, including the Staatkapelle Berlín, the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Comunidad de Madrid, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Estados Unidos de América, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, Orquesta Sinfónica de Mississippi, Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Sinfónica Nacional de la República Dominicana, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Virginia, among others.

In Mexico he has been invited to conduct the orchestras Filarmónica de México, OFUNAM, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Orquesta del Teatro de Bellas Artes, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, and the Filarmónica de Chihuahua.

In opera, Del Prado has conducted various operas, operettas, and zarzuelas leading the Ópera nacional de Cuba, the Asociación Pro-Lírica del Perú, the "Rodrigo Prats" Teatro Lírico company, and the Opera Nacional de México. He has conducted notable figures such as José Carreras, Luigi Alba, and Victoria de los Ángeles.

In his career spanning more than twenty years, his collaboration with Maestro Richard Bonynge and Daniel Barenboim at the Deutchstaatoper Berlin stands out.