Jader Bignamini was introduced as the 18th music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in January 2020, commencing with the 2020–2021 season. His infectious passion and artistic excellence set the tone for the seasons ahead, creating extraordinary music and establishing a close relationship with the orchestra. A jazz aficionado, he has immersed himself in Detroit’s rich jazz culture and the influences of American music.

In December, Bignamini returned to Detroit to lead a triumphant performance of Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst, Strauss’s Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” He returned again in May 2021 to conduct four programs including performances with violinist Midori and pianist Orli Shaham.

A native of Crema, Italy, Bignamini studied at the Piacenza Music Conservatory and began his career as a musician (clarinet) with Orchestra Sinfonica La Verdi in Milan, later serving as the group’s resident conductor. Captivated by the operatic arias of legends like Mahler and Tchaikovsky, Jader explored their complexity and power, puzzling out the role that each instrument played in creating a larger-than-life sound. When he conducted his first professional concert at the age of 28, it didn’t feel like a departure, but an arrival.

In the years since, Bignamini has conducted some of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras and opera companies in venues across the globe including working with Riccardo Chailly on concerts of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in 2013 and his concert debut at La Scala in 2015 for the opening season of La Verdi Orchestra. Recent highlights include debuts with the Houston, Dallas, and Minnesota symphonies; Osaka Philharmonic and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo; with the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Dutch National Opera (Madama Butterfly); Bayerische Staatsoper (La Traviata); I Puritani in Montpellier for the Festival of Radio France; Traviata in Tokyo directed by Sofia Coppola; return engagements with Oper Frankfurt (La forza del destino) and Santa Fe Opera (La Bohème); Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi; Traviata, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot at Arena of Verona; Il Trovatoreand Aida at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera; Madama Butterfly, I Puritani, and Manon Lescaut at Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Simon Boccanegra and La Forza del Destino at the Verdi Festival in Parma; Ciro in Babilonia at Rossini Opera Festival and La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Elisir d’amore at La Fenice in Venice.

When Bignamini leads an orchestra in symphonic repertoire, he conducts without a score, preferring to make direct eye contact with the musicians. He conducts from the heart, forging a profound connection with his musicians that shines through both onstage and off. He both embodies and exudes the excellence and enthusiasm that has long distinguished the DSO’s artistry.

Rafael Aguirre is one of the most sought-after guitarists at an international level, having received 13 top First Prizes for his instrument such as the Tárrega Competition and obtaining important awards in all instrumental categories such as the Pro Musicis in New York. He was named Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in London (ARAM), in recognition of his international career and he received the National Award “Cultura Viva” in Madrid. He has performed in 47 countries.

In the 2025/26 season, Rafael will make his debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, OFUNAM and Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and will return in subscription with Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (OSCyL).

He has performed at esteemed venues, including the first performance of Concierto de Aranjuez in 23 years at Carnegie Hall, where he has performed 4 times, and a sold-out concert at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam performing Concierto de Aranjuez alongside the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Thierry Fischer. He has also performed at Verbier Festival, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, King's Place in London, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Toppan Hall in Tokyo, Muza Kawasaki in Japan, Seoul Arts Center, as well as many of the leading halls in Spain, such as Teatro Real, Auditorio Nacional, Euskalduna Palace, Auditorio de Zaragoza and Palau de la Música Catalana and Valencia.

With a solid classical training, the result of the inheritance of the tradition of Andrés Segovia and Narciso Yepes, Rafael Aguirre has multiple musical interests beyond recitals and performances with orchestra, performing with an ensemble of musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic, the pianist Lang Lang, the sopranos Fatma Said and Hera Hyesang Park, regularly with the cellist Nadège Rochat and many others. He is also committed to expanding the repertoire of his instrument, working with multiple living composers and including in his performances flamenco, Latin American and Spanish popular music and even reaching pop and film music.

With a repertoire of more than 30 concertos for guitar and orchestra, he has performed under the batons of Jesus Lopez Cobos, Leonard Slatkin, Ludovic Morlot, Lorenzo Viotti, Thierry Fischer, Alondra de la Parra, Karina Canellakis, Jose Serebrier, Roberto Gonzalez Monjas, Manuel Hernandez Silva, François Lopez-Ferrer, Clemens Schuldt, Domingo Hindoyan, Gábor Káli, Guillermo Garcia Calvo, Pablo Mielgo, Pavel Baleff, Clark Rundell, Miguel Angel Gomez Martinez, Helmuth Reichel Silva, Yoel Levi and Gabriel Bebeselea, among many others. He also performs with the Tokyo Symphony, Kyushu, KBS, Daejeon, Sao Paulo State Symphony (OSESP), China NCPA Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Symphony of the Americas, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, National de Lyon, National Orchestra of Spain, Puerto Rico Symphony, Liège Philharmonic, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn, Pannon Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, Billings Symphony (USA), Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Thüringen, Pforzheim Chamber, Westphalian Philharmonic, Moscow New Russia, Bulgarian Radio, Serbian Radio, Toulon Opera Symphony, Malaga Philharmonic, Franz Schubert Philharmonia, Extremadura Orchestra, among others. In December 2022, he gave the world premiere of Joan Valent’s Concert de Tramuntana with the Orquestra de les Illes Ballears and Pablo Mielgo.

He released his first album with a recital published by RTVE Música, which was followed by two more recitals for Naxos. With the German label KSGExaudio he published “Transcriptions”, with a program of music by Bach, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Debussy, Ravel and Gershwin transcribed for guitar from original works for piano. His frequent collaboration with the cellist Nadège Rochat gave rise to “La Vida Breve” published by Ars Produktion. Two other projects presented him with Brazilian music (with the Anette Maiburg ensemble for the German label MDG) and fado (with the singer Filipa Tavares). He made the world premiere recording of Lorenzo Palomo's work “Fulgores” with the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, violinist Ana Valderrama and Maestro Jesús López Cobos, for the Naxos label. He recently recorded with soprano Fatma Said for the Warner Classics label, an album that was awarded with the BBC Music Magazine Awards, Gramophone Awards and Opus Klassik of Germany.

As a result of this recording work, he has been pre-nominated for a Latin Grammy and has received enthusiastic reviews from the magazines Gramophone, The Strad and Crescendo Magazine, as well as appearing on the programming of international TV and radio stations such as the BBC, NPR, CBS, NHK in Japan and KBS in Korea, CCTV in China, PBS in the USA, Radio Stephansdom in Vienna, Radio Berlin Brandenburg, HR Hessische Rundfunk, the Bayerische Rundfunk, NDR, MDR, Radio Nacional in Spain and The New Classical FM in Toronto.

A native of Málaga (Spain), at the age of 16 he made his orchestral debut with the Málaga Youth Orchestra on a tour of Spain and Morocco. He was awarded a scholarship by the Junta de Andalucía and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn to study in Germany with Professor Joaquín Clerch at the Hochschule Robert Schumann in Düsseldorf, where he graduated with honors. He later studied with Professor Michael Lewin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He currently resides in Mexico City.