Natalia Luis-Bassa is Professor of Conducting at the Royal College of Music and a part-time lecturer at the University of Huddersfield. She is Principal Guest Conductor of the Oxford University Orchestra and Musical Director of the Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

In the UK, she has collaborated with leading ensembles including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Paragon Ensemble, and Southbank Sinfonia.

A passionate advocate for music education, Natalia has built long-standing partnerships with the National Children’s Orchestras of Great Britain, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, National Youth Orchestras of Scotland and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, London Symphony Orchestra, Benedetti Foundation, The Purcell School, Wells Cathedral School, and numerous youth ensembles across the UK and internationally. She has also worked extensively with youth music groups across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Her international engagements include projects with AMIS in Qatar (2016), APAC in Beijing (2018) and Jeju, South Korea (2024), and a forthcoming collaboration with the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra in 2026.

Natalia is deeply committed to fostering the next generation of musicians and conductors. She regularly leads workshops and collaborations with university and youth orchestras worldwide, including Oxford and Cambridge University Orchestras, Kent Youth Symphony Orchestra, Leeds Conservatoire, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Symphony Orchestra.

She has served as Principal Conductor of the Hallam Sinfonia, Haffner Orchestra, Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra, and Music Director of the Wellington College Orchestra in the UK, as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica de Falcón in Venezuela. She was the first woman invited to conduct both the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra and the Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared with international ensembles including the Bombay Chamber Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, and Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra.

Natalia began her musical training at Venezuela’s world-renowned El Sistema. She studied at the University Institute of Musical Studies (IUDEM), becoming the first person in Venezuela to earn a degree in Orchestral Conducting. She later completed postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music in London, where she was awarded the Michael Mudie Conducting Prize, the Ricordi Prize, and held the Junior Fellowship in Opera Conducting for two years.

She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Huddersfield and, in 2007, was named an Elgar Ambassador by the Elgar Society. A prize-winner at the Maazel-Vilar Conducting Competition, she further refined her craft through masterclasses with George Hurst, Lorin Maazel, and Sir Mark Elder, and enjoyed a close mentorship with Sir Colin Davis.