Immediately after Valdés graduated from the Academy of St. Cecilia in 1976 he was signed by La Fenice as assistant conductor, and the following year he joined the Tanglewood Festival with the same role.
After winning the Malko and Vittorio Gui competitions in 1980 he got his first principal position in the Paris Opera, which eventually led to performance in other theaters.
[2][clarification needed] The following year he was invited by the Buffalo Philharmonic's principal conductor Semyon Bychkov, who was looking for his successor.
Valdés made his American debut in October 1987; in 1989, he was appointed Music Director of that orchestra, a position he held until 1998.
[3][4] From 1994 he combined it with the titularity of the Asturias Symphony Orchestra [es], which would eventually his main position and the one where he has spent the most years, until 2010.