Max Bragado-Darman

Music Director, Monterey Symphony

            Spanish conductor Max Bragado-Darman was named music director of Monterey Symphony by a unanimous vote of the orchestra’s music director search committee on March 15, 2004. His duties as music director began on July 1, 2004 and include appearances at five of the seven performances during the season. His contract will continue to June 30, 2009. He is the eleventh music director of the 62-year-old orchestra which serves the communities of the Monterey Bay, Salinas, Salinas Valley, Big Sur, and San Benito County.

            For nine years, Max Bragado was music director and conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Castile and León, considered one of the most prestigious orchestras in Spain. Under his direction, the orchestra performed for enthusiastic audiences in all the major cities of Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Germany. He recorded with this ensemble many unknown works of the Spanish repertoire, as well as most of the orchestral works of Turina and Rodrigo which are available on the Naxos label. He also recorded all of the works for cello and orchestra by Alberto Ginastera with Mr. Ginastera’s wife, Aurora Anatola, as soloist, as well as many works of the traditional repertoire.

            Max Bragado was music director and conductor of The Louisville Orchestra from 1995-1998 and a guest conductor of this orchestra on two occasions since his departure. Under his direction, The Louisville Orchestra grew in popularity due to his rapport with audiences and his innovative programming. Among the many guest artists with whom he has collaborated are: Alicia de Larrocha, Teresa Berganza, Horatio Gutierrez, Elmar Oliveira, Anne Akiko Myers, Andre Watts, Angel Romero, Gary Graffman, Dubravka Tomsic, Oxana Yablonskaya, Aaron Rosand, and John O’Conor.

            As guest conductor, Max Bragado has performed with many symphony orchestras in the United States including those located in the cities of Honolulu, San Diego, Nashville, Cleveland, Savannah, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Austin, and the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; the London Symphony, the National Orchestra of Mexico, most major orchestras of Spain, and a large number of distinguished European ensembles. He conducted the Buenos Aires Philharmonic in its home—the historic Teatro Colon in April 2006. Mr. Bragado first appeared with the Monterey Symphony in February 1994.

            Born in Madrid in 1945 and trained as a pianist, Max Bragado graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Madrid and received advanced degrees at Oberlin College and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is married to Mary Young Bragado, assistant choral director at the Polytechnical University of Madrid. He has two children: Julio, a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater, and Ilia, an art history student. He lives in New York City and in Carmel, California.