Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is a master of colour, drawing idiomatic interpretations from a wide range of repertoire in concerts across the globe.
He has amassed considerable experience at the helm of orchestras, recently completing seven years as Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and 21 years as Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra where he continues as Music Director Laureate. Previously he has held Music Director positions with the Auckland Philharmonia and Eugene Symphony.
Harth-Bedoya regularly conducts the upper level of American orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Cleveland, Minnesota, New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras. Following his exceptional tenure as Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the early years of his career, Harth-Bedoya’s “special chemistry” (LA Times) with the orchestra remains strong and he returns each season as a guest conductor.
With his experienced toolkit and exceptional charisma, Harth-Bedoya has nurtured a number of close relationships with orchestras worldwide and is a frequent guest of the Helsinki Philharmonic, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, National Orchestra of Spain, Atlanta Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, New Zealand Symphony and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. During the 22/23 season he returns to the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and conducts the New Zealand Symphony, Helsingborg Symphony, West Australian Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Aspen Music Festival and Minnesota Orchestras, amongst others. Recent seasons have featured concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Zurich Tonhalle, Danish National Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, RTVE Madrid and Barcelona Symphony Orchestras, whilst in Japan he has conducted the NHK and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras.
In 2015 Harth-Bedoya conducted the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s first opera Cold Mountain at Santa Fe Opera the recording of which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Previous opera engagements include a new production of La Bohème at English National Opera directed by Jonathan Miller and appearances with the Canadian Opera Company, Minnesota Opera and Santa Fe Opera. He has led two productions of Golijov’s Ainadamar, with the Cincinnati Opera and at the New Zealand Festival.
With a passionate devotion to unearthing new South American repertoire, Miguel Harth-Bedoya is the founder and Artistic Director of Caminos Del Inka, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching, performing and preserving the rich musical legacy of South America. He commissioned moving images to accompany a symphonic programme and the resulting multimedia project has so far been performed by the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Residentie Orkest and MDR Sinfonie Leipzig. In 2017 he launched an online catalogue www.latinorchestralmusic.com.
Harth-Bedoya’s impressive discography includes releases on Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Gramophone, Decca, FWSO Live and Naxos and has gathered a number of awards including Editor’s Choice in Gramophone (piano concertos by Grieg and Saint-Saëns) and two Grammy nominations (Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago with the Chicago Symphony and Yo-Yo Ma). Recent releases include Mussorgsky (arr Gorchakov) Pictures at an Exhibition and Prokofiev Cinderella (FWSO Live), Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra and Brahms (arr Schoenberg) Piano Quartet, orchestral works by Jimmy Lopez and the complete Prokofiev Piano Concertos with Cliburn winner Vadym Kholodenko (Harmonia Mundi). Previous releases include music by Osvaldo Golijov with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon (Deutsche Grammophon) and Sentimiento Latino with Juan Diego Flores (Decca).
Harth-Bedoya is an environmental activist who is committed to a zero waste lifestyle, and co-founded a food composting company in his home state of Texas.
