Armed with consummate mastery of bel canto vocal technique, charismatic stage presence and superlative musicianship, Juan Diego Flórez occupies a special place among today’s leading operatic tenors. He was born in Peru in 1973 and studied music in his native Lima and at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. His expressive artistry attracted worldwide attention in 1996 following his official stage debut in Rossini’s Matilde di Shabran at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Flórez, aged only 23, proved an overnight sensation with critics and public alike and was immediately invited to make his debut later that year at La Scala, Milan. He has remained in constant demand ever since at all the major international opera houses, collaborating closely with the world’s leading conductors.

As today’s bel canto tenor of choice, Flórez has won particular acclaim in the leading tenor roles of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini, as well as in operas by Verdi (Rigoletto and Falstaff), Puccini (Gianni Schicchi), Gluck (Armide), Mozart (Mitridate) and Nino Rota (Il cappello di paglia di Firenze). In 2007 he became the first person to perform an encore at La Scala for over 70 years, after the audience demanded that he break with local tradition and sing an encore in Donizetti’s Fille du régiment, repeating the aria “Ah! mes amis” with its nine resounding high Cs. He created a sensation at New York’s Metropolitan Opera the following year in response to fervent calls for the same aria’s encore. In addition to his work in the opera house, Flórez is also active as a recitalist and as concert soloist in compositions such as Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Messa di gloria.