Félix Carrasco-Córdova is a Mexican-Austrian conductor of ample international recognition. With more than four long decades of artistic pilgrimage, Carrasco Córdova has accredited his expertise to more than a hundred orchestras in 60 cities in 30 countries and four continents, cultivating a repertoire that encompasses all genres and styles ranging from the Baroque to the avant-garde movements.
As a representative example, it is worth mentioning his performances in Austria with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Tonkünstler Orchester and the Kärntner Symphonie Orchester; or the Thüringer Symphoniker and the Max Bruch Philharmonie in Germany; or with the Italian Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana and Filarmonica Veneta. In addition, he is a regular guest conductor of other orchestras such as the Zurich Symphony Orchestra, the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra of Poland, the Orchestra do Norte of Portugal, the Sinfónica del Estado de México and the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, and a long pilgrimage, conducting in some of the most prestigious halls in the world such as the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus (Vienna), Tonhalle Zurich (Switzerland), Megaron Athens Concert Hall (Greece), Cairo Opera (Egypt), Athenaeum Bucharest (Romania), National Palace of Culture in Sofia (Bulgaria), Merkin Concert Hall (New York), and others in remote latitudes such as the National Theatre of Kazakhstan, the Teatro Colón in Bogotá (Colombia) and the concert hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing (China).
He has taken his commitment to the dissemination of Mexican and Latin American music to many of these places. In this regard, it is worth mentioning a Latin American programme conducted by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra at its headquarters, the distinguished Great Guild Hall (Riga), and another programme exclusively of Mexican music with the Presidential Orchestra of Turkey. He has also toured Europe with orchestras such as the Hungarian National Philharmonic of Budapest and Szeged Symphony, the Romanian Symphony Orchestra of Brasov and the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra. In Mexico, he has been a frequent guest of almost all the country’s orchestras, visiting with tours and concerts its main musical venues, such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Sala Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico City.
A recent graduate of the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, Félix Carrasco-Córdova moved to Vienna in 1978 to further his studies in composition and conducting. At the famous Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst (today the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) he was a pupil of Karl Österreicher (conducting), Thomas Christian David (composition), Harald Goertz (opera), Guenther Theuring (choral conducting) and Friedrich Cerha (contemporary music practice), all masters of the historical legacy of Hans Swarovski, witness and guardian of the Viennese tradition handed down by Gustav Mahler to Arnold Schönberg and his disciples of the so-called Vienna School. In this tradition resides the artistic ethos that permeates and modulates the personality of the young Carrasco-Cordova: systematic and profound study of the musical work, rigour of interpretative criterion with absolute fidelity to the score, cultivation of detail, clarity in communication with the orchestra through gesture, and excellence of spirit as an inalienable aspiration.
In those prolific formative years, the budding maestro also had the opportunity to observe closely the rehearsal work of the great conductors of the day such as C. Abbado, L. Bernstein, K. Böhm, H. v. Karajan, C. Kleiber, Z. Mehta, G. Solti, and received masterclasses from Zubin Mehta, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Jesús López Cobos.
In 1980, the Austrian government awarded Félix Carrasco-Córdova a scholarship for outstanding performance in his studies, which after two years, in 1982, he concluded with a unanimous honourable mention from the qualifying jury. After his presentation to the Viennese public in the famous Golden Hall of the Musikverein, he soon entered professional life, being entrusted with the task of leading the First Austrian Women’s Chamber Orchestra. A year later, he took charge of the Vienna Pro-Arte Orchestra, making a name for himself with both ensembles in other cities of the country as well.
The invitation extended in 1986 by the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra to incorporate him into the ensemble as Assistant Conductor was a turning point in the young maestro’s professional career. Félix Carrasco-Córdova decided to return to Mexico. Shortly after his arrival, he became Assistant Artistic Director of the Orchestra, a position he held until 1990. During this period, he alternated his duties in the Philharmonic with the Orquesta de Cámara de Querétaro and the Orquesta de la Sociedad Cultural Manuel M. Ponce.
In 1991 he was appointed General and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. This brought to life the core project to which Félix Carrasco-Córdova would devote himself body and soul during the following decades of his artistic biography: to turn the OSUANL into one of the most prestigious symphony orchestras in Mexico and to achieve with it a genuine international status.
With ideas brought over from Europe, the new director became energetically involved in a profound reform of the OSUANL, comparable to a re-foundation of the orchestra. In order to expand the cast, improving its quality, he summoned instrumentalists from other regions of Mexico, as well as from the United States and Europe, using the highest qualifications as the selecting criterion. With discipline and intense rehearsal work, Carrasco-Córdova succeeded in creating a homogeneous and refined orchestral sound. As a result, the orchestra was able to access the most demanding works of the symphonic and operatic repertoire, many of which had never been performed in Monterrey.
In order to promote the OSUANL’s image and to open up the capital of Monterrey as a space for cultural encounters and exchange, Félix Carrasco-Córdova understands the importance of attracting prestigious artists from other parts of the world to Monterrey. In this way, numerous prominent Mexican and international soloists and conductors will come to work regularly with the orchestra, enriching it in experience and artistic level, and enhancing accordingly the perception of its own worth.
But beyond his artistic ambitions, Carrasco-Córdova emphasised the social dimension of art with educational programmes aimed at attracting new audiences and bringing music to all strata of society. He founded the Monterrey Chamber Orchestra in 1997. He gave constant support to local singers and producers in CONARTE’s opera programmes, and in the orchestra’s own projects. With interdisciplinary activities and alternative proposals, such as the fusion of music with other means of artistic expression, he provided new and surprising experiences for the orchestra and the public. His performances with the painter Héctor Carrizosa and the writer Armando Fuentes Aguirre ‘Catón’ are still remembered in Monterrey.
An essential chapter in Félix Carrasco-Córdova’s work with the OSUANL was the promotion of local performers and creators. He discovered and made known Paulino Paredes (1913-1957), a composer from Michoacán living in Monterrey, and recorded his entire orchestral work. He also encouraged young soloists and, with his orchestra, provided a forum for new generations of composers. As a testimony of his tenure with the OSUANL, there are numerous recordings of international repertoire as well as of Mexican music and music from the Northeast of Mexico.
During all those years of feverish activity which, in addition to the weekly concerts, included administrative, public relations and management work, Félix Carrasco-Córdova was only absent from Monterrey for short breaks to attend to his commitments abroad. A tireless worker, he still found time to give master classes at three of Mexico’s most prestigious universities, the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Autonomous Universities of Nuevo León and Coahuila.
In recognition of his artistic work and social commitment developed throughout his career in Nuevo León, Carrasco-Córdova received several distinctions, among them the UANL Arts Award (1995), the Civic Merit Medal of the State of Nuevo León (1997), and the Mozart Gold Medal, Chapter Excellence (2002), a distinction reserved for musical excellence, awarded by the Domecq Cultural Institute, the Government of Mexico and its Austrian Embassy.
After decades of forging and developing his career at the head of the OSUANL, Félix Carrasco-Córdova ended his work in Monterrey and moved his family residence to Vienna, where he has been living ever since, working with the Camerata Vienna in alternation with his regular engagements elsewhere in Europe.
Félix Carrasco-Córdova 