PT: Biografia

Rita Castro Blanco is one of the most promising young Portuguese conductors of her generation, having had her debuts with Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Orquestra das Beiras, Orquestra do Norte, Orquestra clássica de Espinho, among others. Rita Castro Blanco is establishing her career mainly between her home country Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Between September 2019 and January 2022 she was Principal Conductor of the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra, and in this 2023/24 season she is Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Rita Castro Blanco has been steadily expanding her experience and interest in the fields of opera and contemporary music, which have culminated in her being chosen for the Conducting Fellowship of the higly renowned Tanglewood Festival in 2022, in her participation on the Women Conductor’s Mentorship in the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and to be one of only four Conducting Fellows at the Lucerne Festival, both in 2021. In the summer of 2020 she led “Maratona Ópera XXI”, an the opera competition of the newly founded Operafest Lisboa, where she premiered 7 original Portuguese operas.

Besides the numerous debuts, the young conductor has been invited to work in several operatic projects as Assistant Conductor, such as Così fan tutte by W.A. Mozart, with Orquestra Gulbenkian conducted by Nuno Coelho (March 2022), La Passion de Simone by the finnish K. Saariaho, with Orquestra Nacional do Teatro S. Carlos conducted by Joana Carneiro (May 2021), Mass by L. Bernstein, with Orquestra Gulbenkian conducted by Clark Rundell (Dezembro 2019), Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi by G. Puccini, with RNCM opera orchestra conducted by Martin André (December 2018), and the première of Beaumarchais, a joint commission by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, with Orquestra Gulbenkian conducted by Pedro Amaral (July 2017).

Castro Blanco began her musical studies in Conservatório Metropolitano de Música de Lisboa, later pursuing advanced studies in Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra, where she obtained the Bachelor Degree in Orchestral Conducting in the class of Jean-Marc Burfin. In 2019 she graduated with Distinction from the Master of Music in Performance in 2019, at the Royal Northern College of Music under the guidance of Clark Rundell and Mark Heron. For her final recital of the Master’s programme, Rita gave a secure and passionate performance of an exigent programme in front of the BBC Philharmonic, where she conducted the world premiere of Tom Harrold’s Saxophone Concerto and a tone poem by the Portuguese romantic composer Luiz de Freitas Branco, Anthero de Quental.

Through the RNCM’s programme, she worked as Assistant Conductor for renowned conductors at the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and the Hallé in a variety of conductors, ensembles and repertoire. Throughout her academic life, Rita has had the privilege to work with numerous renowned conductors and pedagogues in international Masterclasses and private sessions. This list includes Sir Mark Elder, Andris Nelsons, JoAnn Falletta, Emmanuel Ax, Johannes Schlaefli, Mark Stringer, Thomas Hengelbrock, Mark Shanahan, Jessica Cottis and the orchestras of BBC Philharmonic, CBSO, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Royal Opera House, London Sinfonietta and CHROMA Ensemble.

Her latest engagements include concerts with Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (premiering the 2022-23 Roche Young Comissions) and debust with Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra, Real Filarmonía de Galicia, and Orquestra do Algarve.

Masterclasses Highlights

• Tanglewood Festival - Conducting Fellowship Andris Nelsons and Stefan Asbury - Jun-Aug 2022

• Lucerne Festival - Conducting Fellowship Wolfgang Rhim and Ilan Volkov (*Enno Poppe) - Aug 2021

• Aix-en-provence Festival - Women Conductor’s Mentorship Thomas Hengelbrock and Duncan Ward - Jun-Jul 2021

• London Sinfonietta - Conductor’s Workshop Geoffrey Patterson - Dec 2020

• Royal Opera House - Opera Materclass Paul Wynn Griffiths and Richard Hetherington - Nov 2020

• BBC Philharmonic Conducting Masterclass Mark Heron and Clark Rundell - Sep 2019

• BBC National Orchestra of Wales Conducting Masterclass Martyn Brabbins - Jan 2019

• Stavanger Symphony Orchestra Masterclass Mark Stringer - Aug 2018

Assistantships Highlights

Jan 2023 - Nuno Coelho, JONDE (Joven Orquesta Nacional de España)
Beethoven Symphony No.3, Stravinsky, Firebird Suite (1919), Dvorak, Othello Overture, Rossini William Tell Overture

May 2022 - Giancarlo Guerrero - Orquestra Gulbenkian
Ravel, Ma mère l’oye, Stookey, The Composer is Dead

Mar 2022 - Nuno Coelho - Orquestra Gulbenkian
Mozart, Così fan tutte

May 2021 - Joana Carneiro, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa
Saariaho, La Passion de Simone

Nov-Dec 2019 - Clark Rundell, Orquestra Gulbenkian
Bernstein, Mass

February 2019 - John Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic
Schumann Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Silvestrov Symphony No.5, Holloway Trumpet Concerto

Oct-Dec 2018 Martin André, RNCM Opera
Puccini Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi

November 2018 - Joana Carneiro, BBC Philharmonic
Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin, Stravinsky Petroushka, Elgar, Cello Concerto

Awards

• Mortimer Furber Prize for Conducting 2020

• Roderick Brydon Memorial Trust Award 2019

Education

• Master of Music in Performance - Conducting

  2017-2019

  Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, generously supported by the Waverly Fund Bursary

• Bachelor in Music - Orchestral Conducting

  2013 - 2016

  Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra, Lisbon