BIOGRAPHY
BIOGRAPHY
César Ramos has been awarded the inaugural Rudis Martinus van Dijk Conductor’s Prize 2025 in the Netherlands. He recently made debuts with the Residentie Orkest, Het Balletorkest in collaboration with Nederlands Dans Theater, and the Noord Nederlands Orkest. In January 2025, he conducted the Dutch National Youth Orchestra on tour, assisting Dutch conductor Otto Tausk, and the Ulster Youth Orchestra during their 2024 Summer Tour in Northern Ireland.
During the past two seasons, César appeared as assistant conductor with renowned ensembles such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Belgian National Orchestra, Phion – Orkest van Gelderland & Overijssel, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, and the Ulster Orchestra.
He recently completed the National Master in Orchestral Conducting (NMO) in the Netherlands, studying under Jac van Steen, Ed Spanjaard, and Antony Hermus. As part of the program, he participated in masterclasses with major Dutch orchestras, including the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, and the Residentie Orkest. César is proud to be the first Latin American student ever accepted into this prestigious program.
Looking ahead to the 2025–26 season, César will return to the Noord Nederlands Orkest and conduct the Conservatorium van Amsterdam Symfonieorkest in a program featuring Stravinsky’s Petrushka and the Violin Concerto by Dutch composer Mathilde Wantenaar.
A passionate advocate for contemporary music, César has collaborated with ensembles such as Asko|Schönberg and the Atlas Ensemble. He has also conducted the Contemporary Ensemble Academy (Royal Conservatory The Hague) and the Score Collective Ensemble (Conservatorium van Amsterdam). In 2024, he founded the KonCollective Ensemble to present his project Cuban Landscapes as part of the Collaborative Student Festival.
In 2019, César co-founded Ensemble Habana XXI with French conductor Nathalie Marin. Composed of Cuban musicians, the ensemble bridges contemporary music with other artistic disciplines, including theatre, contemporary dance, and audiovisual media.
César’s musical journey began with 11 years of cello studies in Cuba before transitioning to conducting under the guidance of Guido López-Gavilán and Nathalie Marin at the University of the Arts (ISA) in Havana. During his studies, he was appointed principal conductor of both the University Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, and assistant conductor of the Cuban American Youth Orchestra under James Ross. He also served as assistant and cover conductor for the National Opera and Ballet Orchestra in a production of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, making his debut with this work at the Gran Teatro de La Habana in 2018.
From 2019 to 2021, César served as Associate Conductor of the Matanzas Symphony Orchestra, and from 2021 to 2023, as Assistant Conductor of the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. During this time, he was also Artist-in-Residence with Ediciones Espiral Eterna, the publishing house of composer Leo Brouwer.