Felix Carrasco

Mexican-Austrian conductor Felix Carrasco has performed successfully near a hundred different orchestras around the world.

Among the countries whose main orchestras he has guest conducted are: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, and The Czech Republic in Europe. In Africa and Asia: China, Cyprus, Egypt, Kazakhstan,Turkey, and Taiwan. In the Americas: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.

Felix Carrasco has also participated as a guest conductor in several international tours through Europe with the Hungarian Symphony Orchestras of Budapest and Szeged, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Brasov, the Feminine Symphony of Austria, and the Chamber Orchestra of Tokyo.

For several years, Carrasco was a permanent guest conductor to the Zürich Symphony Orchestra, the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland, and the Orquestra do Norte in Portugal.

Throughout his career, Felix Carrasco has been the Artistic Director of several Austrian and Mexican orchestras, such as: The First Austrian Women's Chamber Orchestra (1982-1983), The Pro-Arte Orchestra in Vienna (1983-1985), The Queretaro Chamber Orchestra (1986-1988), and The Orchestra of the Manuel M. Ponce Cultural Society (1987). Additionally he was the Second Conductor of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra from 1986 to 1990.

In 1991 he was named Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Monterrey Symphony Orchestra UANL and in 1997 he founded the Monterrey Chamber Orchestra.

In 1995 he was awarded the University of Nuevo León's Arts Prize for his accomplishments with the Monterrey Symphony, and in 1997 the State of Nuevo Leon awarded him with the "Medal of Civic Achievement" for his contribution to the cultural development of the State.

In November 2002, Carrasco was also awarded by the Mexican government and the Austrian Embassy in Mexico with the "Mozart's Gold Medal" which has been granted to the most distinguished figures of classical music in Mexico.

As an educator, he has served as Professor of the faculties of three Mexican Universities: The Universities of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and the National University in Mexico City.

Felix Carrasco graduated with Honors from Vienna's famous "Hochschule für Musik" where he studied with Karl Österreicher (conducting), Thomas Christian David (composition), Harald Goertz (opera conducting), and Guenther Theuring (choral conducting).