Born in Gernika in the Basque Country of Spain, Jon Malaxetxebarria’s career as a conductor is now established mainly in Spain and in the United Kingdom. In Spain he has conducted many ensembles such as the Orquesta Radio Televisión Española, the Basque Country Symphony Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Navarra Symphony Orchestra, Oviedo Filarmonía, Orquesta Sinfónica de Extremadura, the Orfeón Pamplonés and the Malaga Philharmonic. Since 2016 he has been Music Director of the Basque Youth Orchestra.
In the UK he has conducted Manchester Camerata, Liverpool Mozart Orchestra, Crosby Symphony Orchestra, Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallam Sinfonia, North Staffordshire Symphony Orchestra and the Derbyshire City & County Youth Orchestra. He has been Music Director of Solihull Symphony Orchestra since September 2013.
As a keen advocate of new music, Jon performed the world premiere of Simon Dobson’s Trombone Concerto with Peter Moore and the RNCM Brass Band, broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
Following his studies at Roosevelt University, Chicago, with Dale Clevenger, in 2010 Jon moved to Manchester to study orchestral conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). Upon completion of his studies he was awarded the Mortimer-Furber Prize in Conducting, and in 2011 was appointed as conductor of the Junior RNCM. Jon is Senior Lecturer in Conducting at Leeds College of Music, a position he assumed in 2014.
Jon’s recent and future engagements include a live broadcast with the Orquesta Radio Televisión Española, a concert with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra at the Musikaste contemporary music festival, and his work as Assistant Conductor for two opera productions at the Liceu (Barcelona) and the Teatro Real (Madrid).