Music Director & Conductor
paula@orquestanw.org

Paula Nava Madrigal

Paula Madrigal is a Mexican-American conductor who has studied music and education in Mexico, Spain, and the U.S.  While pursuing her career goals as a conductor, she has been a disciple of some of the most important Mexican conductors, including Guillermo Salvador and Enrique Arturo Dimecke. Ms. Madrigal holds a bachelor's degree in cello performance from the University of Guadalajara and a Masters Degree from Universidad Autonoma of Guadalajara. She is passionate about classical music and Latino culture. As a cellist, teaching artist, and conductor, she has created and participated in numerous projects, providing classical music experiences that promote inclusion and intercultural understanding in Mexico and in the U.S. 

In 2014 she founded the Seattle World Youth Orchestra program for talented youth in Seattle.  She also co-founded Orquesta Northwest in 2019 and has served as the Artistic Director of its programs and projects, including the annual Latino Chamber Music Festival, Ballard Civic Orchestra, North Seattle Mariachi, World Youth Orchestra, annual Cascade Conducting & Composing Masterclass.

Ms. Madrigal has received multiple grants and awards from the Office of Arts & Culture in Seattle, Univision, the Latino Community Fund, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Conductors award from Opera America for the Opera Frida. She has served for multiple years as a Seattle Music Commissioner. In 2021, she joined Seattle Opera’s Creation Lab where she has conducted the premieres of  nine new works, including the first chamber opera composed by a black composer.

Ms. Madrigal’s performing and conducting are charged by the joys and passions of the Latino culture. The art she presents is a complete experience for the audience. With this, she aims to create a profound social impact. She has a deep interest in making music that affects consciousness and explores a mixture of tradition with the modernity of technology and new ideas. Her art expresses the integration of her Mexican heritage and her American everyday life. As an artist wishing to express ideas, social justice and the value of excellence are her goals. Her repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporánean, including choral works and Latin music. She currently is conducting the chamber opera Blood Dawn of the Inti Sun and will be a guest conductor for the Northwest Mahler Festival in June 2025.