RUBEN VALENZUELA is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bach Collegium San Diego (BCSD), one of this country's leading ensembles for early music. As a conductor and keyboardist, he has led the ensemble in acclaimed performances of music from the Renaissance, early and high Baroque, Classical era, and the twentieth century. Under his leadership, BCSD has garnered national and international recognition for its virtuosic and stylistically informed performances of both iconic masterworks and lesser-known repertoire. Valenzuela's performances have been described as “dramatic,” “vibrant,” and “able to unlock the true power of Baroque music” (SanDiegoStory.com). Valenzuela and BCSD were honored with Early Music America’s 2023 Laurette Goldberg Award for outstanding achievement in early music engagement. In 2020, he received the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal from Chorus America. 

 

With BCSD, Valenzuela has toured to the Festival Internacional del Órgano Barroco (Mexico City) and the Festival Internacional de Música Renacentista y Barroca Misiones de Chiquitos (Bolivia). In 2024, he led BCSD in its European debut at Bachfest Leipzig in collaboration with the Pauliner Barockensemble, with additional performances in Arnstadt (Bach-Kirche) and Naumburg (Stadtkirche, St. Wenzel). 

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A sought-after guest director and keyboardist, Valenzuela has appeared with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity (New York), Bach at Emmanuel Church (Boston), Juilliard415, Washington Bach Consort, Seraphic Fire, Handel and Haydn Society, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and the Academia de Música Antigua/UNAM (Mexico City), among others. Notable upcoming performances include Handel's Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony. 

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As a musicologist, Valenzuela has conducted research at Mexico City’s Archivo del Cabildo and the Centro Nacional de Investigación, Documentación e Información Musical (CENIDIM). In 2016, he presented his work on Mexican religious iconography and basso continuo practices at the inaugural Historical Performance Institute at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. 

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Additional musical pursuits include a lifelong interest in Jamaican urban music from the 1950s and 1960s—including Blue Beat, Ska, Rocksteady, and early Reggay. He performs as a keyboardist with the Los Angeles–based bands The Kingston Beat All-Stars, The Trojanites, and Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra, all of which are dedicated to the golden age of Jamaican music.​

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Valenzuela holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from Claremont Graduate University.