José Antonio Méndez Padrón

Cuban conductor José Antonio Méndez Padrón founded the Havana Lyceum Orchestra in 2009. Since then, his orchestral precision and his contagious enthusiasm have proved a winning combination. Born in Matanzas to a choral director and a dancer/choreographer, Méndez Padrón grew up singing in the children's choir his father conducted. Participating in a festival, he was swayed by the warm reception of the audience and the thrill of live performance, sparking a career in music. After conducting the chamber orchestra at the Escuela Profesional de Arte, where he was a student, Méndez Padrón studied with the distinguished Cuban artists Jorge López Marín and María Felicia Pérez. Eventually he made his way abroad, for studies at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Méndez Padrón and the Havana Lyceum Orchestra collaborated with Berlin Philharmonic horn player Sarah Willis on the chart-topping 2020 album Mozart y Mambo, a blend of classical and Cuban music.