Raúl Gómez-Rojas
music program director/
orchestra director
Member of the 2018 class of the prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview (League of American Orchestras), Raúl Gómez-Rojas inspires audiences and artists of all ages and backgrounds to use music as a vehicle to connect, pursue excellence, and spread joy. Lauded as a “visionary conductor” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Raúl has built a reputation as an insightful leader that “captivates both performing musicians and audiences alike,” and whose “positive attitude and enthusiasm make him a joy to be with.” Under Raúl's leadership, the Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestra's "precise, yet effortless playing and beautiful cohesion were both breathtaking and steadfast through the show’s final note." (Amy Leona Havin for Oregon ArtsWatch).
In high demand as a guest conductor, Raúl is equally at home on stage and in the pit, leading professional orchestras in the USA and Latin America, new music ensembles, youth, and community groups, and collaborating with a vast array of guest artists across many genres and disciplines. Recent highlights include performances with the Oregon Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, Portland Chamber Orchestra, 45th Parallel Universe, Fear No Music, Third Angle New Music, Beaverton Symphony, Tilikum Chamber Orchestra, the Oregon International Ballet Academy, esperanza spalding, jazz violinist Regina Carter, Steward Copeland, Boyz 2 Men, Lyle Lovett, The Tenors, Kermit Ruffins, Rick Springfield and more. After a performance together in Portland in 2023, hip-hop artist Common immediately engaged Raúl to join his band on violin for their next performance in Seattle. In 2025, Raúl commissioned and conducted esperanza spalding's first-ever orchestral composition, with Metropolitan Youth Symphony (Portland, OR).
Raúl is a passionate music educator, and his skills to “inspire children and young adults to make music to the best of their ability are astonishing” (D. Seldis, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra). 2025-2026 marks Raúl's tenth season as Music Director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Portland, OR, where he leads a team of 12 conductors serving over 500 students in 14 ensembles. He has led the organization to new artistic heights while creating “concert programs that any forward-looking orchestra should envy.” (Willamette Week). Raúl also currently serves as Music Director of YMA: Young Musicians and Artists and served as Resident Music Director (2022-2024) with Oregon Ballet Theatre.
A native of Costa Rica, Raúl received full scholarships for graduate studies at Louisiana State University in violin/viola (MM, Kevork Mardirossian) and conducting (DMA, Carlos Riazuelo), and was a Conducting Fellow in the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival (2011). In 2o21, Raúl was a recipient of the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship. Beyond the podium, his work extends to frequent engagements as a violinist/violist, clinician and public speaker. From 2020 to 2024, he served as a Contributing Host and Producer for On Deck with Young Musicians on All Classical Radio.
Chris ramaekers
2027 visiting orchestra conductor
Chris Ramaekers is Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Texas at El Paso and is Music Director of Symphony847 and Access Contemporary Music in Chicago. He spent twelve years at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; has been Music Director of the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Vincent’s and the Hyde Park Youth Symphony; Principal Conductor of the Middleton Community Orchestra; Assistant Conductor of the Quad-City Symphony; Associate Conductor of the Chicago Composers Orchestra; and Principal Conductor of the Ravenswood Community Orchestra. Ramaekers spent nine summers conducting at Camp Encore/Coda in Maine and four summers as music director of the Savoyards Gilbert and Sullivan Company in Madison, WI. He has appeared with the Kenosha, Kalamazoo, Beloit-Janesville, and Skokie Valley Symphonies, Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Dal Niente, and the Chicago Opera Vanguard. Ramaekers can be heard on recordings with Symphony847, Spektral Quartet, and the Chicago Composers Orchestra, as well as with organizations such as Rémy-Martin, and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Dr. Ramaekers has held fellowships with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra and the Peninsula Music Festival. He was winner of the 2011 American Prize and holds degrees from Western Michigan University and Northwestern University.