“I always have trusted and do trust Asier to be fantastic on the podium, and he is one of the most promising young Spanish Conductors today”

Robert Treviño

(Principal Guest Conductor Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Della RAI)

Asier Puga

Asier Puga, described by critics as one of the iconoclasts of contemporary Spanish music, has developed a singular artistic practice that transcends the boundaries of conventional conducting, situating itself within an expanded field in which sound is conceived as scenic material, thought, and action. His work articulates an ongoing dialogue between musical practice, performance, and other forms of contemporary expression, shaping each concert as a laboratory where tradition is placed in tension with the present.

Principal and Artistic Director of Grupo Enigma—the chamber orchestra of the Auditorio de Zaragoza—and founder of the artistic company Klang, his trajectory is built upon a dual approach: musical interpretation and transdisciplinary creation. He trained as a conductor at the Royal College of Music in London, graduating with the highest distinction, and previously studied with Arturo Tamayo, Manel Valdivieso, and Enrique García Asensio at Musikene. His formation was further enriched through masterclasses with figures such as Pierre Boulez and Diego Masson, among others.

His activity as a conductor has led him to collaborate with orchestras and ensembles including the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Ensemble Itinéraire (Paris), Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi, Ensemble Ascolta (Germany), Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, London Sinfonietta Academy, Explore Ensemble (London), Frames Percussion, Taller Sonoro, Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Burgos, and the RCM Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.

He has performed at leading festivals and venues such as the Festival d’Avignon, Bozar (Brussels), La Bâtie Festival (Geneva), Palau de la Música Catalana, Palazzo Grassi (Venice), Auditorio de Zaragoza, Auditori de Barcelona, Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico de Mérida, Teatros del Canal, Kings Place (London), Auditorio 400 Museo Reina Sofía, Auditorio Kursaal, Palau de la Música de Valencia, Espacio Turina, Quincena Musical de San Sebastián, Palacio Euskalduna, Fundación Juan March, Britten Theatre, Festival Carmelo Bernaola, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, and the Guggenheim Museum, among others.

However, his practice is equally defined by a strong engagement with the scenic and performative realm. Far from conceiving conducting as an exclusively musical gesture, Asier approaches each project from an integral perspective in which dramaturgy, space, body, and image form part of a single sonic architecture. In this context, he has collaborated with artists such as the choreographer, dancer, and artist La Ribot—with whom he co-directed Juana ficción, premiered at the 78th edition of the Festival d’Avignon—the actor Juan Loriente, the cantaor and multidisciplinary artist Niño de Elche, the filmmaker María Ruido, and the composer and sound artist Llorenç Barber, among others, developing works in which languages intertwine and overflow one another.

His work in music theatre and opera includes titles such as Armida by Haydn, Albert Herring by Britten, Die Fledermaus by Strauss, West Side Story by Bernstein, Laborintus II by Berio, and Oresteïa by Xenakis, for which he wrote the libretto in the production that opened the Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico de Mérida in 2023. This work as a librettist and stage creator extends to projects such as Petrolio (2025), with his own adaptation and direction and music by Carlos de Castellarnau, based on Pasolini’s unfinished novel, as well as his current transdisciplinary re-reading of Treatise by Cornelius Cardew (2026).

In 2026, he was invited by the Swiss haute couture house Akris to design the music for its Autumn show at Paris Fashion Week, held at the Palais de Tokyo.

Deeply engaged with contemporary music creation, Asier has conducted more than one hundred world premieres in Spain, the United Kingdom, France, and Switzerland. He has worked with composers such as Chaya Czernowin, José Manuel López López, Núria Giménez-Comas, Sergej Newski, Lisa Illean, and Cheryl Frances-Hoad, among many others, as well as leading first performances in Spain and the UK of works by Clara Iannotta, Chaya Czernowin, Tristan Murail, Rebecca Saunders, Olga Neuwirth, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, and Carola Bauckholt, among others.

He also trained in composition with Ramon Lazkano and Gabriel Erkoreka, and in accompaniment with pianist Maciej Pikulski. Puga maintains a close relationship with the vocal repertoire, working with singers such as Carlos Mena, Astrid Nordstad, Maria Schellenberg, Alejandro del Cerro, and Maciej Nerkowski, as well as with various choral ensembles.

Alongside this, he develops an ongoing essayistic practice, contributing to publications on music and contemporary art, including Sonograma Magazine and the blog of the Auditori de Barcelona.