Recently appointed Associate Conductor of the Simón Bolívar Chamber Orchestra, and upon making his international debut in “Voices from Latin America Festival” at Carnegie Hall in New York; participating in “The Mahler Project”, “Beethoven Festival” and “Tchaikovsky Festival” with Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel; being a Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; partipating in the festival "Présences" with Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France and performing in South America, Asia and Europe; the young Venezuelan-Portuguese conductor Joshua Dos Santos is forging a vast international career which continues to move forward.
Disciple of the Maestro José Antonio Abreu, Dos Santos graduated from the celebrated El Sistema in Venezuela. He had his debut as conductor at the age of 16 conducting Pietro Mascagni´s Cavalleria Rusticana. He has conducted all the major orchestras in Venezuela and appointed as Music Director of the Vargas Youth Symphony Orchestra (2002-03), Carabobo State Youth Symphony Orchestra (2003-09), Associate Conductor of Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra (2015-16), Music Director of The Orchestra of the Filipino Youth (2017-21), Artistic Advisor of The Orchestra of the Filipino Youth and Music Director of "Zarzuela Colombia" (2021-22).
Dos Santos is known to be one of the most experienced and versatile young Venezuelan conductors of his generation. His mastery of classical, contemporary and latin american repertoires has launched him to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the Concert Season for Young People held in the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Further, he has conducted the premiere in Mexico of Krzysztof Penderecki Symphony No.3 and numerous world premieres, especially in the “Latin American Music Festival” held in Caracas, Venezuela.
Joshua has worked as Cover Conductor of Maestros Charles Dutoit, Neeme Järvi, Pablo Heras-Casado, and with Gustavo Dudamel as Assistant Conductor preparing the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela for its international tours.
Dos Santos has conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Colombia National Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Rubinstein Philarmonic Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra and among others. He carried out his first CD-DVD production with the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra and the Embassy of Portugal in Venezuela with works from Carlos Seixas, Joao Bomtempo and Aldemaro Romero.
As an advocate for social development through music education and arts, Dos Santos is continuously supporting the programs inspired by El Sistema around the world. This led him to be "Chief of Orchestras" of Ang Misyon Inc., an institution that supports and provide free music education to the less privilege and talented children in the Philippines.
Highlights of the 2018-19 includes his South American Tour conducting notable orchestras in Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Uruguay. His debuts at the Katara Opera House in Qatar with the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, as well with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá, Colombia. The season 2020-21 Dos Santos celebrated in Venezuela, 20 years of artistic career conducting Juan José Landaeta Symphony Orchestra and giving masterclasses around the country, then he conducted the premiere of Emilio Arrieta´s opera "Marina" in Cali, Colombia. Lastly, the season 2022-23, Dos Santos made his debut in Ecuador with Loja Symphony Orchestra and Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra conducting the national premiere of Latin American works.
Joshua Dos Santos spent his childhood in Valencia, Carabobo where he started to play cello and became member of the National Children Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. He participated in many prestigious tours with conductors such as Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle. Dos Santos was named "Joven personalidad del año" by the newspaper El Carabobeño and awarded with "Botón de Honor Ciudad de Naguanagua" as an outstanding citizen of the province.
