General Music Director
Mittelsächsisches Theater Freiberg


Former Assistant Conductor
San Francisco Opera




CONTACT
Dacian Predan-Hallabrin
dacian@predan-hallabrin.com


REPRESENTATION
Eastern Europe & Italy

Mexican-born conductor José Luis Gutiérrez has served as General Music Director (GMD) at the Mittelsächsisches Theater Freiberg since the 2025/26 season, after previously shaping the house’s musical profile as First Kapellmeister. He is currently the youngest GMD in Germany. His repertoire spans from classical opera to modern symphonic works, with critics frequently highlighting his musical versatility and collaborative leadership style.

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Notable highlights of the 2025/26 season include his debut with the Gürzenich Orchestra at the Cologne Opera with Mozart’s The Magic Flute, as well as his debut with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. In 2025, he made his U.S. debut at the Lakes Area Music Festival in Minnesota, to which he has already been reinvited for 2026.

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Upcoming projects will take him to the Prague Philharmonia, with whom he will make his Concertgebouw Amsterdam debut. Furthermore, he will return to conduct the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the Cologne Opera, and the Lakes Area Music Festival. In Mexico, he will conduct the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes as well as the Mexican National Orchestra. In 2027, he will serve as assistant conductor for the production of Tosca at the San Francisco Opera. He previously drew significant attention in November 2024 with his debut at the Stuttgart State Opera, conducting Barrie Kosky’s legendary production of The Magic Flute at the invitation of GMD Cornelius Meister.
 

In 2023, he worked at the San Francisco Opera, where he served as an assistant to Sir Donald Runnicles and Roberto Kalb during the anniversary season. His work there included the world premiere of El último sueño de Frida y Diego and Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

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His extensive opera repertoire spans numerous productions, including Dido and Aeneas, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Fidelio, Der Waffenschmied, The Barber of Seville, Don Pasquale, Rigoletto, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Pagliacci, Gianni Schicchi, Hänsel und Gretel, Frau Luna, Cendrillon, The Tsarevich, The Count of Luxembourg, The Csárdás Princess, Countess Maritza, La voix humaine, The Telephone, and The Consul. In addition to his work in Freiberg, he has made guest appearances at theaters such as the Landestheater Coburg and the Staatstheater Meiningen. He is also deeply committed to contemporary music, regularly collaborating with ensembles like the Tiroler Ensemble für Neue Musik.

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José Luis Gutiérrez graduated with honors in conducting from the Tiroler Landeskonservatorium under Dorian Keilhack and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg. He received further artistic guidance through the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Program at the Academy and in masterclasses with Kenneth Kiesler. His musical roots lie in the Mexican National Youth Orchestra and the Orquesta Esperanza Azteca, where he performed as a cellist.

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