Juan Carlos Pena

Born in Honduras, Juan Carlos Peña began his musical studies at the Victoriano López Music School. He holds double bass performance degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Rice University, and a degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Maryland.

Peña is Principal Bass with the Palm Beach Symphony, performs regularly in the bass sections of the Naples Philharmonic and the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, and was principal bass with the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra from 2008 to 2025. He also served as Principal Bass with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Honduras and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Valle in Colombia, and as Co-Principal Double Bass with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia in Spain.

In Honduras, Peña held the positions of Artistic and Technical Director of the Victoriano López School of Music, Music Director of the San Pedro Sula Orchestra, and Music Director of the Youth Chamber Orchestra of Tegucigalpa. In Cali, Colombia, he was Director of the Chamber Orchestra of the Antonio Valencia Conservatory, and in La Coruña, Spain, he served as Music Director of the Madrigalia Chamber Choir.

An active educator in the South Florida area, Peña teaches at the New World School of the Arts in Miami. He is a String Consultant at Dreyfoos High School of the Arts and Bak Middle School of the Arts in Palm Beach, teaches the double bass orchestra repertoire class, and serves as a chamber music coach at Lynn University in Boca Raton. He has also been the bass instructor for the winter session of the Philadelphia International Music Festival in Miami.

Since 2010, he has spent part of his summers in Honduras, collaborating as a conductor, recitalist, and clinician with the country’s most important musical institutions.