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Juan Carlos Matellanes Takes the Helm at Ópera XXI
Spain’s opera network appoints a new president.
Juan Carlos Matellanes, president of ABAO Bilbao Opera, has been unanimously elected president of Ópera XXI, the association representing Spain’s permanent opera houses, seasons and festivals. The decision was taken at its general assembly at Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza.
He succeeds Isamay Benavente, who completed two terms in the role. Benavente remains involved as a vice-president, alongside Valentí Oviedo of Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu and Juan Ignacio García-Belenguer of Madrid’s Teatro Real.
The arrangement combines a change at the top with continuity among institutions already active in the network. For an association whose work depends on cooperation between organisations with different scales, resources and local responsibilities, that balance is an important feature of the announcement.
Ópera XXI brings together 26 permanent member institutions and has two honorary members outside Spain: the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and Lisbon’s Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. Its activities include collaboration, professional development and initiatives intended to broaden audiences for opera and zarzuela.
The assembly also established the next destination for the association’s annual awards. The ninth edition will take place in A Coruña on June 26, 2027, in partnership with Amigos de la Ópera de A Coruña, recognising work from the 2025–26 season.
Rotating the ceremony among cities gives the awards a role beyond the presentation of individual honours. It allows different members of the operatic network to host a national gathering and brings attention to activity outside the largest houses.
Matellanes inherits an organisation whose remit is collective rather than that of a single theatre. His presidency will be judged through the practical relationships it supports: sharing knowledge, strengthening professional connections and helping opera institutions reach audiences while retaining their individual artistic identities. The A Coruña awards provide an early public milestone for the new leadership.