Musician Spotlight: Enluis Montes Olivar, 2025-26 Conducting Fellow

Meet 2025-26 Conducting Fellow Enluis Montes Olivar

Venezuelan conductor Enluis Montes Olivar, 28, is associate conductor of the Simón Bolívar Chamber Orchestra and winner of the 2024 Glenn Gould Protégé Prize. A former Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he has conducted at the Hollywood Bowl and Davies Symphony Hall. Montes Olivar led the world’s largest orchestra in a Guinness World Record-setting performance and has assisted Gustavo Dudamel at the Paris Opera. He studied at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory and teaches orchestra conducting at the Schwob Music Preparatory at Columbus State University. His dynamic leadership and international experience mark him as one of the rising stars of his generation. 

What excites you most about joining the San Diego Symphony’s Conducting Fellowship? 
 
One of the things that excites me most is continuing to be part of this wonderful family. Over the past two years, I have had the opportunity to work with the orchestra, its musicians, and the entire team—and the synergy between them all in pursuit of the common good and the orchestra's constant growth is extraordinary. Without a doubt, what excites me most is continuing to be part of this family. 
 
What do you hope to learn, experience, or contribute through this program? 
 
One of the things I most want to do in this new season with the San Diego Symphony is to continue exploring the new concert hall. The Jacobs Music Center is a dream come true, and after having been there for some tuning and the first concerts, something that excites me greatly is being able to continue making music within that space. 
 
How do you think this fellowship will shape your growth as a conductor and leader? 
 
I think that the experience of working more closely with Rafael Payare will give me many new tools that I can use immediately for my futures engagements and responsibilities. I believe this opportunity will be key for the years to come. 
 
You’ve worked closely with Gustavo Dudamel and the El Sistema tradition—how do you see this fellowship further developing your leadership style? 
 
I think it will strengthen many things. At El Sistema, we believe in growing up together, and that is exactly how I see the San Diego Symphony team—all working together toward the same goal. That is why I believe this program will enhance my leadership style and undoubtedly provide many new tools that will be immediately useful. 
 
What are you most eager to learn from the San Diego Symphony's artistic and community engagement teams? 
 
I think what I most want to observe closely is the way these teams work and communicate with each other. They are very organized, and their ideas are fresh and innovative, always involving the community as much as possible. I am very excited to continue learning from them. 
 
How do you hope to bring your experience with large-scale musical projects to your time here? 
 
One of the things that excites me most are the community concerts that I am responsible for conducting. I come from a musical tradition that is literally about that: people. Therefore, one of the things I most want to experience with the orchestra are these very special concerts, which remind me of my childhood and my early musical training. Community and family concerts are the most important symphonic concerts of a season for an orchestra, in my opinion, because it is these concerts that guarantee the musicians of the future, and that sow the tender seed of music in children and young people. 

 
Enluis (middle) at the San Diego Symphony 2026 Elementary School Programs "Beat and Groove" concerts at The Rady Shell