Biographical Notes

Born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, José Miguel Esandi started out as a horn player in the National Youth Orchestra before he enrolled with the New World School of the Arts, in Miami, Florida, where he graduated with a Bachelor degree. He holds a Master’s degree in conducting with honors from the University of Music in Vienna.

Between 1999 and 2007 he tought conducting at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and  was a répétiteur of vocal repertoire. During this time he assisted renowned maestros such as Hartmut Haenchen, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin on numerous opera productions at De Nationale Opera Amsterdam, De Vlaamse Opera, Opéra National de Paris and at the Salzburg Festival, among others.

José Miguel Esandi was a regular guest at Opera Graz, where he conducted new productions of L’elisir d’amore, Liebe einer Königin, ballet music by Rachmaninov and Malambo!, a ballet with music by Piazzolla and Ginastera, as well as performances of Manon Lescaut, La bohème and Die Zauberflöte and concert programs.

Other guest engagements include La traviata and Die Zauberflöte at Oper Leipzig, La rondine at the Teatro São Carlos and productions of Sacre du printemps, La valse, and Nutcracker with the National Ballet Company of Portugal, the Messiah with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Così fan tutte at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam, La bohème at La Monnaie, Brussels, Rigoletto, Otello and Carmen at the Opéra National de Lorraine, Nancy, Le comte Ory, Lucia di Lammermoor, Così fan tutte, Manon Lescaut, The Magic Flute, Le nozze di Figaro, and Madama Butterfly for the Dorset Opera Festival in England, L’elisir d’amore at the One Asia Festival in Busan, Korea, as well as concert performances of Lucia di Lammermoor and L’elisir d’amore at Seoul Arts Centre and Lotte Concert Hall.

In concert, José Miguel Esandi has conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, The Hague Philharmonic ‘Residentie’, Radiosinfonieorchester Wien, Orchestre Symphonique et lyrique de Nancy, the National Philharmonic of Mexico OFUNAM, Orchestra Sinfonica Portuguesa, Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony, the Orchestra of Teatro Argentino and the Orchestra of Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

Between 2019 and 2025, José Miguel Esandi worked at Bühnen Halle as First ‘Kapellmeister’ of the Staatskapelle, conducting over 200 performances between opera, concert and ballet repertoire, including new productions of Un Ballo in Maschera, Rusalka, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata, Peer Gynt, Rigoletto, The Golden Dragon by Peter Eötvös, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, as well as revivals of Ariadne auf Naxos, Die hochzeit des Figaro, Hänsel und Gretel, La bohème, Der Freischütz, Alice in Wonderland, and performances of Benjamin Britten Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Concert versions of Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte; as well as a series of New Year’s concerts and symphonic programmes featuring works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky. He also performed excerpts from Cosi fan tutte with the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse and studio singers from the Opera National du Rhin, in France.