About
Néstor Bayona is a Spanish conductor based in Berlin and Barcelona. In 2023, he was appointed Resident Conductor at the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), after serving as the orchestra’s assistant conductor in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons.
With a career spanning over a decade, Néstor Bayona has gained recognition from international orchestras and opera houses. In the 2024/25 season, he will make his debut at the Festival de Música Española with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA) and later with the Orquesta de Extremadura. He will also conduct Romeo et Juliette by Gounod at Opera Śląska and debut at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, and the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo.
In the 2023/24 season, Néstor conducted Cavalleria/Pagliacci at the Hungarian Opera in Cluj-Napoca, at the Jan Kiepura Festival with the Filharmonia Krakowska, assisted Marin Alsop in the production of Die schwarze Maske by Krzysztof Penderecki at NOSPR, and worked with Lawrence Foster on the production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Berg’s Lulu at the Enescu Festival. He also returned to conduct at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and made his debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE in Madrid and also conducted concerts with NOSPR, the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès in Barcelona and the Filarmonică de Stat Transilvania in Cluj.
Earlier, Néstor received invitations to conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille at the Festival International de Piano de la Roque d’Anthéron with soloist David Kadouch, and at the Grand Théâtre in Aix-en-Provence with David Fray. In Germany, he has conducted the Bochumer Symphoniker and made his debut at the Berliner Philharmonie with the Deutsche Skandinavische Jugend-Philharmonie.
Previously, Néstor was assistant at the Opéra de Marseille during the 2018/19 and 2021/22 seasons, as well as in productions at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Komische Oper in Berlin, the Frankfurter Oper, and Pentatone for the recording of *Fanciulla del West*. He has worked with renowned conductors such as Lionel Bringuier, Peter Eötvös, Domingo Hindoyan, Henrik Nánási, Neeme Järvi, Susanna Mälkki, Ingo Metzmacher, and Pinchas Steinberg.
In 2021, Néstor was recognized as an Associate Member of the Royal Northern College of Music, an award for emerging alumni of the college.
Néstor studied piano at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Helen Krizos, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for his achievements as a pianist. He completed a Master’s in Piano at the Haute École de Musique de Genève under Nelson Goerner and a Master in Conducting with Laurent Gay. He later moved to Berlin for a Postgraduate Diploma in Conducting at the Universität der Künste under Steven Sloane and Harry Curtis.
Néstor was nominated as an emerging conductor of the Ulysses Network and received the Ciutat de Lleida International Award 2015 for his cultural contribution to his hometown of Lleida. He is currently Artistic Director of the Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition in Lleida.
