Biography

Carmen Moral was the first woman to become a Music Director and Conductor of a major Latin American Orchestra: the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru, her native country. She was selected for this position by a competition in which she was the only woman participant. Since then, several orchestras have entrusted her with the post of Music Director, such as the Bogota Philharmonic (Colombia), I. Frauen-Kammerorchester von Österreich ( Vienna), the Symphony Orchestra of Mimar Sinan University (Istanbul), and, for a second time, the National Symphony  Orchestra of Peru. She served for six years as First Conductor of the Istanbul State Opera. 
She had the honor of becoming Conductor Emeritus and Honorary of the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru, Medal of Honor of the Peruvian Culture, and a “Gran Oficial” of the Merit Order-City of Bogota.” Carmen Moral received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Peruvian University UNIFE of Lima, and the National Conservatory of Music of Lima, Peru, gave her the title of Honorary Professor.

Carmen Moral’s repertoire encompasses a wide range of musical styles and genres - symphony, opera, chamber music and ballet - represented in more than 450 works. She has conducted numerous world premieres. The George Enescu Philharmonic (Bucharest), the Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Moscow), the Tonkünstlerorchester (Vienna), the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Pasdeloup Orchestra (Paris), the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (Mexico D.F), and the Chamber Orchestras of Lausanne and Vienna are among of the more than 70 orchestras that have invited Carmen Moral as a guest conductor. Her concerts in 28 countries of Europe, Asia and the Americas have taken her to such theaters as the Grosser Musikvereinsaal of Vienna, the Kennedy Center of Washington, D.C., the Bolshoi Hall of Moscow Conservatory, the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, the Teatro Bellas Artes of Mexico D.F., the Theater of the Nationalities of Beijing, the Salle Pleyel of Paris, etc. Her critically acclaimed performances have brought her new invitations by international orchestras.

Carmen Moral studied conducting with Ionel Perlea of New York’s Metropolitan Opera House and with Laszlo Halasz, one of the founders of the City Center Opera of New York. She holds Master’s degrees from Manhattan School of Music and Teachers College of Columbia University (New York) and a Master’s degree and a DEA in Musicology from the Sorbonne (Paris 4). She also continued studies with Sergiu Celibidache (privately) and Pierre Boulez ( College de France). Carmen Moral is a Professor of Orchestra Conducting at Berklee College of Music in Boston.