“Armando Merino stands out for his excellent skills, musicality, demanding but friendly manners, and his wide knowledge of the music repertoire of the XX and XXI centuries…’”
Peter Rundel
“Armando Merino stands out for his excellent skills, musicality, demanding but friendly manners, and his wide knowledge of the music repertoire of the XX and XXI centuries…’”.
Peter Rundel
The Spanish conductor Armando Merino has been awarded with the First Kurt Masur Scholarship for Young Conductors in partnership with the International Kurt Masur Institute, the Opera Halle and the Impuls Festival for the 2019/20 season. In 2015, Merino was selected as the Ensemble Modern’s music conductor during the Internationale Ensemble Akademie at the Klangspuren Festival in Innsbruck.
He is also founder and chief conductor of der/gelbe/klang, a Munich based music ensemble, awarded with the prestigious Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis (Bavarian Award for the Advancement of the Arts) in 2021. This prize underpinned der/gelbe/klang as the primary contemporary music ensemble not only in the city of Munich but in the Free State of Bavaria.
Merino’s élan and clarity on stage have led him to engagements with orchestras mostly in Germany, including the Staatskapelle Halle, Deutsches-Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Magdeburgische Philharmonie, Harzer Sinfoniker, Staatsorchester Kassel, KammerAkademie Halle or the Philharmonischen Kammerorchester Wernigerode.
Working with some of the most renowned contemporary music ensembles in Austria, Germany and Italy is also key in Armando’s conducting career. His numerous engagements have led him to work with the Schallfeld Ensemble, mdi ensemble, NAMES Ensemble, Ensemble Interface, Divertimento Ensemble, Collegium Novum Zürich, Ensemble Sillages or the Windkraft Kapelle für neue Musik, appearing in festivals including Wien Modern, Münchner Opernfestspiele, Aspekte Salzburg, Dialoge Salzburg, Impuls Festival, März Musik Berlin or Ultraschall Berlin.
Born in Madrid, Armando Merino studied Orchestral Conducting at the Catalonia College of Music (ESMUC) with Jordi Mora and at the University of Music (SUM) of the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana under the guidance of Arturo Tamayo. Merino has continued his studies being invited to masterclasses with conductors including Pierre Boulez, Titus Engel, Peter Rundel, Michael Luig and Pierre-Andre Valade. He also had assisted conductors as Juanjo Mena, Peter Rundel, Fabián Panisello, Michael Wendeberg, Francesco Angelico and Arturo Tamayo.
During the Season 2023-2024 Armando Merino made his Debut at the Bavarian State Opera conducting a new Production of the chamber Opera “Lady Magnesia” by the polish Composer Mieczysław Weinberg under the Stage Direction of Theresa Maria Schlichtherle.
Equally passionated about modern music Theater, Armando Merino has conducted numerous projects with important Institutions. In 2024 he conducted Yiran Zhao’s World Premiere Turn Turtle Turn with Oblivia and the Ensemble Ö at the Munich Biennale, one of the most important festivals for new Music Theatre. In 2022 co-conducted and premiered the big Opera “Einbruch mehrerer Dunkelheiten” by german Composer Felix Leuschner at the Staatstheater Kassel. From same composer he conducted his opera “Requiem für einen Lebenden” inside the Munich Opera Festival in 2019.
In 2021 and 2023 Armando Merino appeared at the prestigious festival Wien Modern with important Austrian Ensembles such Schallfeld Ensemble and Ensemble NAMES. The Spanish Conductor works regularly with important Composers like Isabel Mundry, Hans Abrahamsen, Elena Mendoza, Sara Glojnaric, Mark Andre, Pierluigi Billone, Georgia Koumará, Vykintas Baltakas or Anahita Abbasi among others.
Regular Collaborations with Institutions like Bayerischer Rundfunk, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, ARTE Tv-Cine Concert, 2eleven music Film and discographic Productions with the Labels Mode, NEOS y Kairos.
In 2024 Armando Merino comes back to Staatstheater Kassel after his successful Debut in 2022 conducting, as an Assistant of Francesco Angelico, the monumental Opera “die Hamletmaschine” by Wolfgang Rihm with Stage Direction by Florentine Klepper. In the same Season he conducted Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello at the same Theater under the Stage Direction of Anika Rutkofsky.
Another important Debut in 2024 took place in at the Auditori from Barcelona in Spain, where Merino conducted for the first time, the Banda Municipal de Barcelona (Barcelona’s Symphonich Wind Orchestra) in a Programm including pieces by Francisco Guerrero and Igor Stravinsky among others. Equally important was his debut in Locarno (Switzerland) conducting the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in a special Halloween dedicated Programm including Works by Scelsi, Xenakis, Bartók and Herrmann. The conception and stage direction took place under Fabrizio Rosso.
During the Season 2024-25 Merino appears with the Magdeburgische Philharmonie at Theater Magdeburg as a part of the IMPULS Festival Sachsen-Anhalt and he will conduct Ensembles like der/gelbe/klang and Ensemble Oktopus. A special Highlight of the Season will be the World Premiere in the Ensemble Versio of Moritz Eggert’s Music to Alfred Hitchcock’s silent Movie “Blackmail” with the Ensemble der/gelbe/klang.
Armando Merino is still developing an important activity as a Lecturer for Contemporary Music Ensemble at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. Together with Konstantia Gourzi, he’s developing an intense Activity with the Ensemble Oktopus. He regularly conducts Workshops with young Composers at the Mozarteum Salzburg and is regularly collaborating with the Georgia Southern University.
KammerAkademie Hall.
Der/gelbe/klang.
Der/gelbe/klang.
Doblemalta · Estudio creativo
