Yabetza Vivas Irizarry

Emerging Puerto Rican conductor Yabetza Vivas Irizarry is the Music Director of the Puerto Rico National Youth Orchestra of El Sistema Música’s 100 x 35 program and Administrative Coordinator of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. She is in her second season as a Chicago Sinfonietta Project Inclusion Conducting Freeman Fellow. 

Recent and upcoming engagements include guesting with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and conducting the premiere of the comic opera “¿Y los Pasteles? Ópera Jíbara en Dos Actos” by Puerto Rican composer Johanny Navarro, sponsored by Opera America.  

Vivas Irizarry has shared the stage with solo musicians such as guitarist Matthew Ardizzone, soprano Meechot Marrero, trombonist Kyle McConnell, and tenor Pedro Arroyo. 

Ms. Vivas Irizarry holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Choral Music Education from the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory, and a Master of Music degree in Orchestra Conducting from Bowling Green State University. She has been mentored by conductors such as Dr. Emily Freeman-Brown, Kenneth Kiesler, and Roselín Pabón. She has also participated in several masterclasses, including the “Conductors Retreat at Medomak” in Portland, Maine, and the “Leiston Abbey Conducting Program” in England.