Spanish born conductor Julia Cruz has an enthusiastic, dynamic, and communicative personality that allows her to connect with orchestras and audiences. Her repertoire ranges from Haydn to contemporary music, with a special focus on Italian Opera. She is a Britten Pears Young Artist 2023 and, since 2022, she is an Award Recipient of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship.

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Next engagements for the 24' season include her debut with Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México and reinvitations to Mexico's National Ballet Company and  Orquesta de Bellas Artes. During the following months, Julia will also premiere several works in Latin America and Europe. 

 

During the 23' season, Julia makes several largely successful debuts, leading the winter The Nutcracker production with Mexico's CND at the National Auditorium, also appearing with OFUNAM (Mexico), with whom she premieres Georgina Debrez's new piano concerto with Alberto Rosado as soloist, and is also invited to the Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao. She guest conducts La Jolla Symphony and Chorus (USA), the closing night of Festival Internacional de Música de Cambra de Godella (Spain) and the Chicago Philharmonic (USA) in an event at Breaking Barriers Festival in collaboration with Taki Alsop Fellowship and New Music USA. Julia is reinvited as assistant conductor to the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (USA) and, on the opera field, to Opera de Colombia for a new production of L'Elisir d'Amore. 

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During the 22' season, Julia made two largely successful debuts: La Traviata with Kolozsvári Magyar Opera -being immediately reinvited for an upcoming season- and L'Elisir d'Amore at Stara Zagora State Opera. She also served as Assistant/Cover Conductor at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, working with Marin Alsop and Manuel López-Gómez among other conductors, and assisting  JoAnn Falletta in a recording project for Naxos USA. Julia also guest conducted Orquestra de Cambra de Mallorca.  

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In 2021, Julia was awarded the Second Prize in the Blue Danube/Béla Bartók Opera Conducting Competition and invited as guest conductor in various European opera houses during the next seasons.

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When still a student, Julia was elected Assistant Conductor of Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana (Spain), a position that she held for three seasons. Since then, Julia has conducted various European orchestras in The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Spain, and has been the assistant and cover conductor in multiple opera productions.

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Julia is deeply committed to the social aspect of music-making and believes in music as a tool that can transform our reality. With this mindset, she is also interested in developing musical projects that allow musicians and audiences to connect and support diversity and equality in music while sharing her musical aesthetic. She serves as guest speaker for diverse projects focused on engaging younger audiences and equality in classical music.

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Julia was born in 1996. At age 6, she began playing the trombone, however quickly discovered conducting. She studied at Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón with Borja Quintas and Miquel Rodrigo, where she graduated Cum Laude, and at Zuyd University of Applied Arts, where she received a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting, under Arjan Tien, and graduated with distinction. She has also studied with Federico Santi, whom she considers her mentor, and has attended masterclasses and workshops with Johannes Schlaefli, Marin Alsop, Gregory Vajda, Daniel Oren, Colin Metters, Vladimir Ponkin, and Bruno Aprea, among other conductors.