Luis Biava is internationally renowned as a conductor for his work with symphony orchestras. Professor of Music at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music, he has been Music Director and Conductor of the University’s Symphony Orchestra since 1986.
After an almost four decades of a productive career associated with The Philadelphia Orchestra where he served from Principal of the Second Violins up to Conductor-in- Residence, Maestro Biava conducted his last two concerts with the Orchestra in July of 2004.

For the past thirteen (13) years he has been Artistic and Music Director of the Festival of the Symphonic Youth Orchestra of the Americas (FOSJA) held every summer in Puerto Rico. Recently he was appointed Artistic Director of the newly organized National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia and has been collaborating for the past few years with the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. He has performed as guest conductor with the Vermont Mozart Festival, the Camerata and the University Orchestra in Bloomington, Indiana, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and many others in South America.

A strong advocate of music education and contemporary music, Maestro Biava has presented premieres of works by many North and South American composers. In 1995, he conducted the first Philadelphia performance of John Corigiliano’s First Symphony with the Temple Symphony Orchestra. For more than a decade, Maestro Biava has also served as Music Director and Conductor of the Temple University Youth Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble for advanced players at Temple’s pre-college Center for Gifted Young Musicians.

Throughout his distinguished career, Biava has received numerous awards, including the Comcast Newsmaker of the Year for the Arts, and the Arts Recognition Award from the Society for Performing Arts of the Media Theater, a Citation from the City of Philadelphia, the Order of Merit from Italy, the Medal of San Carlos from the President of Colombia and the Philadelphia Orchestra C. Hartman Kuhn Award.

A native of Colombia, South America, Maestro Biava joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1968. He was a founding member of the Philarte String Quartet and continues to play first violin with the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble.