Leonardo García-Alarcón

One of the most renowned Argentine conductors of his generation, Leonardo García-Alarcón has established himself as a leading figure in the revival of the Baroque repertoire.

In 2005, Leonardo García-Alarcón founded his ensemble, Cappella Mediterranea, and in 2010 took over as director of the Namur Chamber Choir. He quickly made a name for himself as a conductor thanks to his innovative concert programmes and his rediscovery of little-known works.

As a conductor and harpsichordist, he is in great demand at the world’s leading musical and operatic institutions: the Opéra de Paris, La Zarzuela in Madrid, the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Berlin Staatsoper, amongst others. He is a regular guest with Les Violons du Roy in Canada, the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gulbenkian Orchestra.

Following his triumphant conducting of Rameau’s Les Indes galantes at the Opéra Bastille, he was named best conductor in the 2019 Forum Opéra Awards. In September 2022, a new chapter began in his career with the premiere of his oratorio Pasión Argentina, his first major contemporary composition.

Recent years have been marked by numerous collaborations with leading choreographers: with Angelin Preljocaj on Lully’s Atys in 2022, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui on W. A. Mozart’s Idomeneo in February 2024 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and Sasha Waltz on J. S. Bach’s St John Passion at the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Dijon Opera and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

In 2025, he will reunite with Bintou Dembélé for the international tour of the choreographed concert Indes galantes – de la voix des âmes, scheduled to take place in Paris, Madrid, Lyon, Bordeaux, at The Grange Festival (United Kingdom) and São Paulo, before making his debut at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival with Pompeo Magno, an opera by Francesco Cavalli directed by Max Emmanuel Cencic, who also took on the title role. That same year, he received the ICMA 2025 ‘Artist of the Year’ award.

The year 2026 saw him return to the Grand Théâtre de Genève for a production of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux, directed and choreographed by Edward Clug, followed by a performance at the Opéra de Paris for the world premiere of an 18th-century opera, Ercole Amante byAntonia Bembo, directed by Netia Jones, and finally the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence with Mozart’s The Magic Flute, directed by Clément Cogitore.

Leonardo García-Alarcón is the director of La Cité Bleue, a theatre with a capacity of over 300 seats, which opened its doors in March 2024. He has been appointed a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.