BIOGRAPHY
Recently praised in a New York Times profile for his “exquisite…frankly gorgeous conducting”, Robert Treviño is much in-demand by many of the world’s leading orchestras throughout the world. Regularly to be seen on the podiums of top ensembles, from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France to the London Symphony Orchestra, from the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig to the Baltimore Symphony, from the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich to the Orchestre dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Treviño has been named the incoming Principal Conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra – after an enormously successful debut with them earlier this season – and he is Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.
“Treviño forms one symphonic organism that, with its delicate lines, its piercing nine-note chord blocks, venomous scherzos and waltzing dances of death, turns the whole span into the turning of a musical wheel of fortune… Very enthusiastic applause.”
The 2025/26 season also sees Treviño with the London Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Wiener Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Osaka Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestra della Svizzeria Italiana, La Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México.
Other regular collaborators include the Münchner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Dresdner Philharmonie, SWR Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, NDR Hannover, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Orchestre dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Helsinki Philharmonic, São Paulo Symphony, NHK Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra and St Petersburg Philharmonic. He has also conducted a wide variety of orchestras in North America – also among them the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Baltimore, Minnesota, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Utah, Toronto and Detroit. He has conducted at many leading festivals, including the Mahler Festival Leipzig, Milan Mahler Festival, MITO Festival, Puccini Festival and Enescu Festival. Treviño’s opera work has included productions at Opernhaus Zurich, La Fenice, Washington National Opera and the Bolshoi Theater.
“Startlingly excellent…Treviño maintains irresistible momentum, absorbing each detail into the general crescendo…he doesn’t skimp on the menace, but he and his musicians keep swinging to the end, dancing into darkness.”
He has led many international tours, including of Germany and Italy with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI; of Austria, Germany, France and Turkey with the Basque National Orchestra; of South America with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra; Germany and Italy with the Malmo Symphony Orchestra; Italy with the SWR Symphonieorchester; Turkey with the Wiener Symphoniker, Italy and Azerbaijan with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, and Romania with the MDR Sinfonieorchester.
For eight years he was Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra, a period that was transformational in the orchestra’s history. There were award-winning recordings; a thriving digital presence and non-stop activity even during the Covid period. On tour he brought the orchestra to major venues such as the Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg, Herkulessaal Munich and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris. Alex Ross in The New Yorker noted Trevino’s raising of the orchestra’s international profile, while Gramophone commented, “Trevino has revitalised the 40-year-old ensemble”. He was also Chief Conductor of the Malmo Symphony Orchestra, where highlights included highly successful Beethoven and Stravinsky festivals, non-stop activity during the Covid period, and highly-innovative outreach projects.
His recording contract with Ondine has resulted in a ‘Recording Of The Year’ award from Presto Music for his album “Americascapes”, also shortlisted for a Gramophone Award; a widely-praised complete Beethoven symphonies cycle, two much-acclaimed Ravel albums, a Rautavaara album, Respighi’s Roman Trilogy, and “Americascapes 2 – American Opus”. Additionally, a complete cycle of Bruch symphonies with the Bamberger Symphoniker was released by CPO, and is now regarded as the modern reference recording. Between them, Robert Treviño’s recordings have garnered more than 16 accolades from respected reviews publications around the world.
Treviño burst into the international spotlight at the Bolshoi Theater in December 2013, leading a new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo at short notice. The Russian press wrote, “There has not been an American success of this magnitude in Moscow since Van Cliburn.” He was subsequently nominated for a Golden Mask award for “Best Conductor in a New Production” and appeared every year at the Bolshoi for five seasons.
Robert Treviño has commissioned, premiered and worked closely with many leading composers, among them John Adams, Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina, George Walker, Jennifer Higdon, Andre Previn, Augusta Read Thomas, Shulamit Ran, Ramon Lazkano and John Zorn.