José Luis Basso has been appointed as the new director of the Choir of the Teatro Real de Madrid, Spain.

His new tenure kicks off during the 2023-2024 season as the Argentine will replace Andrés Máspero, who has been in that position since 2010.

Basso’s musical training began in Buenos Aires, where he studied piano as well as choral and orchestral conducting. From there, he made his debut as choir director at the Teatro Argentino de La Plata with opera productions and choral symphonic concerts, and in 1989 he began working at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; he also simultaneously directed the Choir of the Wagnerian Association.

In 1990, Romano Gandolfi, the famed director of the Scala in Milan, hired him as his assistant at the Liceu in Barcelona and in 1994 he was appointed director of the Choir of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Starting in 1996 he was hired by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and in 2000, he was awarded the Ina Assitalia award for his outstanding work.

From 2004 to 2014 he served as Director of the Choir of the Opéra National de Paris, having an overwhelming success in the following seven seasons. In 2021. he began directing the Choir of the Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli.