The Florida Orchestra welcomed President & CEO Ignacio Barrón Viela in August 2023. Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Ignacio has brought global experience as a musician and engineer to lead the state’s largest professional orchestra in a new era of growth in Tampa Bay. He is a classically trained cellist who has spent more than a decade performing in orchestras and managing music projects worldwide.

Ignacio is passionate about expanding orchestras’ musical offerings and community engagement programs that focus on the issues and ideas of human relevancy across all economic and social groups: “Live music is an incredible, transformative platform to uplift society and shape a better world.”

He came to TFO from the Reno Philharmonic in Nevada, where as president and CEO he helped expand its artistic offerings with a wide variety of events and concerts, including a semi-staged opera. Post-pandemic audiences consistently grew, sometimes exceeding pre-pandemic levels. During his tenure, the Reno Phil Youth Symphony Orchestra performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He also helped to develop a new, three-year vision and strategic plan that will enable the Reno Philharmonic to adopt progressive and practical initiatives for future development.

Before that, he was the executive director of the Billings Symphony in Montana for four years. He helped acquire the two largest single gifts in the organization’s 72-year history, a commercial building in downtown Billings that houses the Billings Symphony offices and brings additional revenue from retail tenants, and a seven-figure donation to sponsor the executive director’s position. He created key partnerships with local and national associations and helped double the symphony’s net worth and endowment.

While living and working in Dusseldorf, Germany, Ignacio was involved in managing orchestra tours in Europe with the Heinrich Heine Orchestra. Prior to his career in arts management, he worked seven years as a senior management consultant and project manager for two of the largest private investor-owned energy companies in the world. With projects in conventional power plants and renewable energy assets spanning across Europe, Asia, South America and the U.S., Ignacio specialized in operational excellence and performance management, skills that he brings to the orchestra field.

Ignacio holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Zaragoza and an MBA from the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business, with an emphasis in arts leadership through the USC Thornton School of Music. In 2019, he was accepted to be one of only twelve orchestra professionals nationwide participating in the League of American Orchestras’ Emerging Leaders Program. In 2020, he was nominated as one of the “40 Under 40” most successful leaders in Montana, and in 2022 he was recognized with the Community Builder Award by the Downtown Billings Association.

Ignacio and his wife, Brianna, enjoy exploring the great outdoors, running road races and learning from and engaging with people from all walks of life.