Margarita Lorenzo De Reizábal

Margarita Lorenzo de Reizábal was born in Bilbao where she completed her advanced studies in piano and composition, receiving Honorary End of Degree Prizes. She has a degree in Medicine and Surgery from Valencia Polytechnic University. She was the pianist of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1998. She has a master's degree in Psychodidactics from the University of the Basque Country.

She studied orchestra conducting in England with R. Saglimbeni, G.Hurstand N. Thompson, and perfected her technique with R. Houlihanand Denise Ham. She has attended orchestra and opera conducting courses with Jesús López Cobos in Madrid, and was assistant director at the Teatro Real in the stagingof La Traviata by Verdi. She has been a rehearsal accompanist for the Bilbao Opera for more than 25 different works.

In 1987 she became Professor of Harmony and Composition at the Leioa Municipal Conservatory, gaining the post through public examinations. Since 1991 she has been Principal Conductor of the Leioa Youth Orchestra, which she has conducted in about 350 concerts, and the recording of 7 CDs and DVDs. She has conducted in the major concert halls in Spain and France. She was a regular guest conductor on the RTVE program, "El Conciertazo", directed by Fernando Argenta. She has conducted internationally-renowned musicians such as Felix Ayo, Joaquín Achúcarro, Ara Malikian, Pilar Jurado and Igor Yebra.

She is coauthor of the book, "Análisis Musical: claves para entender e interpretar la Música" (Boileau, 2004). In 2008 she published the book, "En el Podio: manual de dirección de orquesta, coros, bandas y otros conjuntos instrumentales", also with Boileau, which has been translated into various languages. She has won numerous international prizes for instrumental and choir composition and for her work as an arranger.

Since 2007 she has been a professor in the Department of Composition and Conducting at the High School of Music of the Basque Country (Musikene), a post she gained through public examinations. At Musikeneshe has also carried out educational management tasks: she is responsible for implementing and coordinating the new EHEA-adapted study plans in the area of music.

She currently teaches conducting at Musikene and divides her time between teaching and her commitments as a guest conductor of local orchestras and wind bands. She has recently finished her doctoral thesis in teaching orchestra conducting, which she will soon defend. She takes part in international music and education conferences connected to her area of research.