José Areán’s career has spanned a wide range of musical and cultural fields. In addition to conducting opera, symphonic, and chamber music, he has devoted significant energy to musical outreach and education in Mexico, promoting young talents, contemporary composers, and experiences for mass audiences. He hosted a cultural television program for twelve years and has worked with some of today’s most distinguished artists. As an opera conductor, he began his career as Assistant Music Director at the Ópera Nacional de México, Bellas Artes (1996–2001), and was later appointed Artistic Director of the company (2007–2009). He has conducted dozens of operatic and ballet repertoire titles, while also championing contemporary opera and leading several premieres, including the world premiere of Únicamente la verdad by Gabriela Ortiz, Séneca by Marcela Rodríguez, the Latin American premieres of L’amour de loin by Kaija Saariaho, and Avis de Tempête by Georges Aperghis. He has collaborated with international stars such as Plácido Domingo, Francisco Araiza, Ramón Vargas, Rolando Villazón, Javier Camarena, Arturo Chacón, and Ainhoa Arteta, among many others.

Areán’s concert career has been equally distinguished. From 2005 to 2016, he served as Associate Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Mexico’s leading summer orchestra. During his tenure as Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Director of the Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México (2011–2016), he was recognized as an innovative programmer and conductor, performing over 70 Mexican works, a third of them composed in the previous decade. He commissioned and premiered ten new works and presented rarely heard 20th-century classics in Mexico. He was Artistic Director of the Sinfónica de Aguascalientes (2017–2020) and of the Sinfónica de Yucatán (2023–2025). In May 2025, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Eduardo Mata (OJUEM).