Jaime Martín’s Chief Conductor Chair is supported by the Besen Family Foundation in memory of Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC.
Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022, and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 2019, with those roles currently extended until 2028 and 2027 respectively, Spanish conductor Jaime Martín also takes up the role of Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from the 24/25 season, and has held past positions as Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (2019-2024), Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra) (2022-2024) and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra (2013-2022).
Recent highlights include acclaimed debut performances with the prestigious Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Dallas and Indianapolis Symphonies and the Dresden Philharmonic, his debut conducting appearances at the BBC Proms, leading the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and return visits to the Sydney Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Queensland Symphony, Colorado Symphony, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon, and conducting the Academy of St Martin in the Fields at their centenary celebrations for their founder Sir Neville Marriner. The 24/25 season sees him debuting with the Strasbourg Philharmonic and returning to the Sydney and Barcelona Symphonies and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and his programming with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra ranges from Bach’s Brandenburg concertos and the symphonies of Haydn, Schumann and Brahms, to Gershwin, Louise Farrenc and Florence Price, and a world premiere from Laura Karpman, and with the Melbourne Symphony he conducts major symphonic repertoire including a complete Beethoven symphony cycle, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe ballet, Mahler’s 2nd symphony, and the first of a series of recordings of Dvorak’s symphonies.
In recent years Martín has conducted an impressive list of orchestras that includes the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, Swedish Radio Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Deutsches Radio Philharmonie Saarbruecken, Essen Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He has forged strong relationships with renowned soloists such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zukerman, Christian Tetzlaff, Viktoria Mullova, Nemanja Radulovic, Pablo Ferrandez and Javier Perianes. among many others. Martín has also commissioned multiple world and regional premieres of works by composers Ellen Reid, Andrew Norman, Missy Mazzoli, Derrick Spiva, Albert Schnelzer and Juan Pablo Contreras.
In 2024 his debut recording with the Melbourne Symphony was released, with the songs of Richard Strauss and Debussy with Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg, and his discography includes Mozart’s Wind Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, a series of discs for Ondine Records with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra including the Brahms Serenades, Songs of Destiny, Brahms choral works with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, and the Brahms/Schoenberg Piano Quartet, as well as most recently works by Swedish composer Melcher Melchers. He has also recorded Schubert Symphony No. 9 and Beethoven Symphony No. 3 Eroica with Orquestra de Cadaqués, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto & Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole with Ellinor D’Melon and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, works by Spanish composers including Albeniz, Agusti Charles, Halffter and Granados with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra for Tritó Records, and James Horner’s last symphonic work Collages for four horns and orchestra with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Before turning to conducting full-time in 2013, Martín was principal flute of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English National Opera, Academy of St Martin the Fields and London Philharmonic Orchestra. Also sought-after as a soloist, he recorded Mozart’s flute concertos with Sir Neville Marriner, the premiere recording of Sinfonietta Concerto for Flute and Orchestra written for him by Xavier Montsalvatge and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, and Bach works for flute, violin, and piano with Murray Perahia and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields for Sony.
Jaime Martín is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in London, and in 2022 the jury of Spain’s Premios Nacionales de Música underlined his “pedagogical work and his constant commitment to the young generations of musicians” alongside his “indisputable musical talent and his extraordinary ability to transmit his musical idea to the ensembles with which he works”, awarding him their annual prize for his contribution to classical music.
