Having performed with orchestras around the nation, Lopez-Yañez considers his upcoming run with Pacific Symphony as a kind of homecoming. The son of an opera singer father and pianist mother, he grew up in neighboring San Diego County as well as in opera houses and concert halls around the world, later attending UCLA to study music. “My parents are really thrilled that I’m here. They’ve already bought season tickets, and they’re planning to come to all the shows.”

The partnership with Pacific Symphony has also been a reunion for Lopez-Yañez. “It’s funny because one of the bassoonists in the orchestra used to teach at my middle school. And the principal trumpet player was my high school trumpet teacher. Small world.”

Though he originally thought about becoming an opera conductor, Lopez-Yañez discovered his true calling after he got his first job as assistant conductor of the Omaha Symphony in 2015. “That was my first real exposure to a professional orchestra. I had grown up around the opera house, and I didn’t know any different. But I started to realize, ‘Wow, I really love this—all the diversity of programming, everything from music education, family concerts, pops, classical.’ I didn’t even know pops was a thing. Then I see these rock bands and tributes to Queen and jazz concerts and Latin fusion. It piqued my interest. There was this whole other world that I could be involved in that fused a lot of the stuff I grew up loving. I was in rock bands and boy bands, and I did mariachi, klezmer groups in my free time. And I thought, if I can have this as part of my normal day-to-day life, that’s awesome.”

In the past eight years, he has worked with artists in nearly every genre of music: Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Kenny Loggins, Nas, Trisha Yearwood, and Ben Folds are a few examples. The lineup of Pacific Symphony performances he will conduct this season ranges from the music of “Star Wars” (Nov. 3 and 4) to Latin/jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (Feb. 16 and 17) to Lyle Lovett (March 8 and 9).

“Maybe the show I’m most excited about is Ben Rector and Cody Fry (May 10 and 11). They’re both taking a break from their recording and solo careers to do this show. The two of them alternate playing piano and playing guitar, and it’s all of Ben’s incredible songs orchestrated at the level that only Cody can do. It’s really, really cool. And I think it’s one that is perfect for Gen Z and Millennials, but then the older audience that have never met them will love it, too, because their music is just so appealing and so genuinely beautiful.”

Having spent six seasons at the Nashville Symphony, Lopez-Yañez will split his time here, there, and in Texas, where he has been named principal conductor of the Dallas Symphony Presents. “As a conductor, your job is to oversee everything, to make sure that the voices of the community and the voices of the orchestra are being heard so that everyone is having a fulfilling experience. And it’s always exciting, you know, because things can go wrong. And they often do. People get sick. Phones go off. The singer is on the wrong part of the song. And it’s my job to get us back on track. But that’s the energy behind live performances. Otherwise, you could just put on a recording.”