Conductor Juanjo Mena has announced that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

The conductor posted a video on social media stating that he had been diagnosed with the disease but does not intend to stop working.

He said, “I will rest more, which will be beneficial for me.  I have so much strength and energy to carry on, and above all, I have an advantage in my favor, Music. It’s my passion and the engine that, now more than ever, activates my brain and makes me work better.”

Mena is an internationally recognized conductor who has been the Principal Guest Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic and Chief Guest Conductor of the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. He has also been Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and Principal Conductor of the Cincinnati May Festival.

He has also conducted with the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, London Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, mong others.