Alejandro Gómez Guillén

Conductor and violinist Alejandro Gómez Guillén is passionate about sharing music in a way that is compelling, uplifting, and educational. Recently appointed Director of Orchestras at Arizona State University, he is currently in his second season as assistant conductor with Omaha Symphony, recently having taken part in the GRAMMY-nominated premiere production of Sculptures by composer Andy Akiho. He completed seven seasons as artistic director and conductor of Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, with which he led the world premiere of Mickey Tucker’s Spiritual Collage and the Indiana premiere of Florence Price’s Fourth Symphony. He also completed a successful tenure as associate conductor of Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, leading multiple community classics, pops, outdoor, bilingual and educational concerts, including collaborations with artists such as Time for Three and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte. Additionally, he is also music director of Sphere Ensemble which explores the intersection of masterpieces of string ensemble music of the past and present with a multitude of genres and world music masters. The group’s recordings are available through major music streaming platforms. Alejandro also served as a Freeman Fellow in Conducting with Chicago Sinfonietta, acting concertmaster/principal second violin of West Texas Symphony and violinist of the Permian Basin String Quartet, associate conductor of Boulder Symphony, and music director of Cantabile.

Recent highlights include serving as guest conductor with Illinois Symphony, collaborating with the Omaha, Indianapolis, Fort Worth, Dallas symphonies, as well as Orlando Philharmonic, as the assistant to conductors including Ankush Kumar Bahl, Tito Muñóz, Sameer Patel, José Luis Gómez, Eric Jacobsen, Jun Märkl, Carlos Kalmar, Robert Spano, Ruth Reinhardt, Andrew Grams, and Matthew Halls. He has also led West Texas Symphony, Tulsa’s Signature Symphony, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, SingFest Hong Kong, Bogotá’s Javeriana University, Bloomington Bach Cantata Project, and Midland Festival Ballet. He appeared as part of the Oregon Bach Festival conducting masterclass over several seasons in public performances of Bach’s B minor Mass, St. John Passion, and the Christmas, Easter, and Ascension Oratorios. Additional activities include the Bloomington Early Music Festival, Weimarer Bachkantaten Akademie, Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble, ¡Canta, Bogotá Canta!, Santander Choral Festival, Cabrillo Festival, Tonos del Sur at Berkeley Festival, Permian Basin Opera, a fellowship with SphinxConnect, and a residency in Colombia with Batuta.

Committed to sharing music in an educational way, Alejandro’s activities with the Omaha Symphony include artistic leadership of the orchestra’s prestigious and multifaceted community and education programs serving 25,000 students per year. Alejandro has served as assistant professor of music at Colorado Mesa University where he taught violin, viola, courses in symphonic literature, string pedagogy and chamber music, as well as conducting the chamber and symphony orchestras. He served as music director of the Colorado Youth Philharmonia and has led performances with Off Broadway School of Fine Arts in Boulder, Javeriana University Symphony Orchestra, Spokane Youth Symphony, University of Colorado Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, and Falcon Music Camps at the University of Texas Permian Basin.

An accomplished violinist, Alejandro enjoys leading concertos from the violin in recent and upcoming seasons. He served as concertmaster of Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, Amherst Early Music Festival, and Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble, with which he toured Germany and Italy including performances at Rheingau Music Festival and Berlin Philharmonie. He also returned to Oregon Bach Festival as a member of the Berwick Academy for Historical Performance.

Alejandro had a rich musical upbringing as a chorister and violinist in his native Colombia. Following a move to the United States he pursued a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Texas Christian University and Master of Music degrees in conducting and violin performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He holds a DMA in orchestral conducting from the same institution, and his doctoral research includes a critical edition of Colombian composer Jorge H. Pinzón’s violin concerto Capricornius, and a guide using selected dances from Bach’s orchestral suites in their original form for developing orchestras through a historically-informed approach to playing on modern instruments. His mentors include Gary Lewis, Helmuth Rilling, Matthew Halls, and Mei-Ann Chen.

When not playing, leading ensembles, or reveling in the music of Bach, Alejandro enjoys singing, trail running, and making music with his wife, violinist Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Cranor in their Duo Anthracite and Chaski Quartet.