Who would have thought that that afternoon in 1966 in the Concert Hall of the Universidad Central of Venezuela would have been the beginning of Juan Cristóbal’s career as an orchestral conductor when he took the baton for the first time to conduct an Orff instrument orchestra. Accompanied on the piano by Prof. Maria Luisa Ortiz Stopello improvising in ternary meter, that first experience became the beginning of the journey of what has been a beautiful musical career. After that early start, Palacios had to wait until his final years as a teenager to regain the baton with Prof. Rene Rojas’ Youth Recorder Ensemble giving him the opportunity to conduct many concerts all over Caracas. After this experience, Palacios’ training continued and he attended many of the Caracas music conservatories. Eventually in 1982, Juan Cristóbal left for the United States of America to continue and formalize his music studies. During those student years at Boston University and later at Yale University under the tutelage of Eiji Oue and Eleazar de Carvalho, he was involved in the premiere of more than 50 contemporary works as well as works from the formal orchestra’s repertoire.
During the summers, he attended the Aspen Music Festival and the Monteux School and Music Festival deepening the study of the classical repertoire. He made his professional debut at age 24 appearing as a guest conductor with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. From that moment on he was invited to conduct the most important orchestras of Venezuela. In 1993 Palacios was appointed President and Music Director of the Fundación Sinfónica Juvenil de Chacao, where he spent the next eight years. In this position, under the artistic umbrella of “El Sistema”, Palacios did a great deal of teaching and expanded his repertoire and orchestral preparation.
” The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between “
– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart –
In 1995 Juan Cristobal was recognized with the order of the first class of “José María y Bote”, the highest artistic award granted by the Mayor’s Office of Chacao (a municipality within Caracas) for his work as a teacher, orchestral conductor and public figure. Subsequent to this award Juan Cristóbal was appointed as President of the Fundación Cultural Chacao, where he was in charge of developing educational, training and recreational programs for the County of Chacao. In 1997 he had the opportunity to conduct the Latin American premiere of Gabriel Faure’s Requiem.
Ten years later, escaping political unrest, in 2007 Palacios moved back to the USA and since 2010 he has been working as one of the conductors of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. His professional career continues in parallel with his educational work recently appearing as a guest with the Symphonic Orchestra of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
