Rita Castro Blanco

About Rita

I have been studying music since I can remember but for a long time I did not consider becoming a professional musician. Looking back, I can’t believe the musical journey I have been on to become a conductor and how much more I still want to achieve, learn and share with other musicians.

After completing my conservatoire studies as a violinist, I switched the violin for the baton and completed a Bachelor’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra (2016). I then obtained a Master of Music in Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music (2019). Always striving to improve my musical and technical skills, I have been very keen on attending masterclasses and I have had the pleasure to work with the likes of Sir Mark Elder, Andris Nelsons, Emmanuel Ax, Johannes Schlaefli, Mark Stringer, Martyn Brabbins, Enno Poppe, with orchestras such as the Royal Opera House, BBC Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.

Lately, I have been developing my interest in opera and contemporary music, which led me to participate in the Tanglewood Festval (2022), the Women Conductor’s Mentorship in the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (2021) and in the Conducting Fellowship at the Lucerne Festival (2021). I have had a few important professional debuts, with Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Orquestra das Beiras, Orquestra do Norte. My latest engagements include concerts with Orquestra de Mafra, Mendelssohn Academy Leipzig and the collaboration with the 2022-23 Roche Young Comissions at the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, and I am working to carry this momentum forward.


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