Jaime Martín has had significant careers as a flutist and, beginning in the late 2000s, as a conductor. He has been busy in the latter field, holding chief conductor positions in Sweden, the U.S., Ireland, and Australia.

Martín was born in Santander, in northern Spain, on September 1, 1965. He studied the flute in Madrid with Antonio Arias and moved on for further work with Paul Verhey in The Hague, the Netherlands. As a flutist, he's performed with the London Mozart Players, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, among others, and various orchestras across Spain and the Canary Islands, including the Cadaqués Orchestra, which he co-founded. In 1991, he made his recording debut as a flutist, on a recording of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with jazz guitarist Paco de Lucía. He appeared on many other recordings on the flute, including the recorded premiere of the Sinfonietta Concerto for flute and orchestra of Xavier Montsalvatge, which had been written especially for him. Martín was the first flutist at the Royal Philharmonic from 1997 to 2001.

Martín switched to conducting in 2008, with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conductor Neville Marriner as a mentor, and made rapid progress, appearing with such orchestras as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, and the Winterthur Orchestra in Switzerland. Martín has made several prominent operatic appearances since his debut, conducting Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 2012, Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the English National Opera in 2013, and returned the following year for Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. In 2012, he made his recording debut as a conductor, leading the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields on pianist Luiza Borac's recording of piano music by Dinu Lipatti.

Martín has led the Gävle Symphony Orchestra in recordings for the Ondine and BIS labels, and he became the orchestra's principal conductor in 2013; his contract has been extended through 2022. During the 2017-2018 season, he conducted the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with violinist Joshua Bell as soloist, opening the orchestra's season, as well as appearing for the first time with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Bilbao Symphony, and the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2018, he was named music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, ascending the podium in the fall of 2019. That year, Martín also became chief conductor of Ireland's RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, with a three-year contract. In 2021, Martín led the London Symphony Orchestra on the album Mozart: Wind Concertos, featuring the orchestra's section principals. After several guest appearances with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, he was named chief conductor of that orchestra, beginning in 2022. Martín lives in London with his wife, London Symphony Orchestra bassoonist Rachel Gough, and their family. ~ James Manheim, Rovi