José Luis Gutiérrez

José Luis Gutiérrez has been General Music Director of the Mittelsächsisches Theater since season 2025.26, having previously played a key role in shaping the musical profile of the theater as its principal conductor. His repertoire encompasses a wide range of opera and concert literature; his versatile musicality and cooperative leadership style are regularly highlighted.

Highlights of season 2025.26 include his debut at the Cologne Opera with the Gürzenich Orchestra, his US debut at the Lakes Area Music Festival in Minnesota, and a concert with the Saxon Wind Philharmonic Rhineland-Palatinate, followed by his China debut in the summer of 2026.

In November 2024, he made a highly acclaimed debut at the Stuttgart State Opera with Mozart's “Die Zauberflöte” in Barrie Kosky's legendary production – an engagement at the invitation of Cornelius Meister.

Internationally, he worked at the San Francisco Opera in 2023, where he served as assistant to Robert Kalb and Sir Donald Runnicles during the company's anniversary season for the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's “El último sueno de Frida y Diego” and Richard Strauss' “Die Frau ohne Schatten.”

He conducted numerous opera productions, including Carmen, Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, Il tabarro, La voix humaine, Cendrillon, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Tsarevich, The Csádar Princess, “Der Graf von Luxemburg,” “Frau Luna,” “Don Giovanni,” “Hänsel und Gretel,” and “Gräfin Mariza” at the Mittelsächsisches Theater, as well as “Hänsel und Gretel” and “Gräfin Mariza” at the Landestheater Coburg and “Die Zauberflöte” at the Staatstheater Meiningen.