Roberto González Monjas & Musikkollegium Winterthur
Biography Roberto González Monjas & Musikkollegium Winterthur
Roberto González 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. Most recently Roberto was appointed designate Music Director of the Galician Symphony Orchestra in Spain, starting in September 2023. This appointment recognises Roberto’s long-standing relationship with Spain’s foremost orchestra and strengthens their collaboration, as well as his strong commitment for their educational programmes. Roberto is also Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of Dalasinfoniettan in Sweden (since the 2019/20 season); Chief Conductor of Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland (since the 2021/22 season); Principal Guest Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra (since the 2022/23 season); and Artistic Director of Iberacademy in Colombia.
Highlights of the current season in Winterthur, which kicks off a three-year programmatic triptych inspired on by Mozart’s last three symphonies, include concerts with András Schiff, Joyce DiDonato, Yeol Eum Son and Lisa Batiashvili, as well as performances of Haydn’s Creation, the world premiere of Andrea Tarrodi’s “Fragments of Enligtenment” and the European premiere of Caroline Shaw’s new Harpsichord Concerto. Roberto will also embark on a 12-concert tour of the United Kingdom and Belgium together with the Belgian National Orchestra and soloist Paul Lewis.
Recent guest conducting and play-direct debuts which led to immediate re-invitations and significant future debuts include collaborations with Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and Camerata Salzburg, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National d'Île-de-France, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Lahti Symphony, Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre Nationale Capitole Toulouse and Music in PyeongChang, among many others.
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. He frequently collaborates with singers and instrumentalists including Ian Bostridge, Yuja Wang, Rolando Villazón, Hilary Hahn, Andreas Ottensamer, Alexander Lonquich, Lisa Batiashvili, Fazil Say, Reinhard Goebel, Thomas Quasthoff, András Schiff and Kit Armstrong.
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 most recently 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.
With an impressively eclectic and wide-ranging repertoire, some of Roberto’s signature projects include recording Mozart Serenades with the Mozarteumorchester in Salzburg, playing Esa Pekka Salonen’s violin concerto with the Orchestre Nationale D’Île de France, bringing together the Musikkollegium Winterthur, Iberacademy and 80 young dancers for several performances of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”, premiering Richard Dubugnon’s “Colorfields” Violin Concerto and presenting a new staged production of Mozart’s Requiem with stage director Stéphane Braunschweig at the Bordeaux Opera, to name a few.. Roberto’s variety of styles and interests is also displayed in his latest CD recordings for Claves Records, featuring works by Mozart, Schoeck, Stravinsky, CPE Bach and Saint-Saens with the Musikkollegium Winterthur. 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.
