Fernando is a young baritone born and raised in Mexico City. Besides his studies in voice, he is an accomplished pianist and has studied composition and music production. Fernando holds a bachelor’s degree in Digital Music Production Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores Monterrey in Mexico City, a masters degree in classical voice from the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Mark Oswald, Kenneth Merrill, and Thomas Muraco. He was a young resident artist at the Opera Institute Boston University under the tutelage of Penelope Bitzas, studied at the Accademia D’Altro Canto with soprano Donata D’Annunzio Lombardi, was a member of the Classic Lyric Arts organization in New York with Glenn Morton, was part of the first generation of singers at Vincerò Academy, and a member of the Mexico Opera Studio in Monterrey. He began studying voice privately at the CentrÓpera Enrique Jaso in Mexico and finished his formal vocal studies privately as well in Italy under the guidance of Vito Maria Brunetti, and in Mexico with vocal coach Andrés Sarre and baritone Carlos Almaguer. He was recently invited to attend the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices (IYDV), founded and directed by Dolora Zajick, and is currently a resident artist at the Accademia Verdiana at the Teatro Regio di Parma.

 

In 2022 he made his debut in Cavalleria Rusticana (Alfio) at the Teatro Comunale Fusco in Taranto, under the baton of Giuseppe La Malfa and the Orchestra della Magna Grecia; in Spain with the Sociedad Filarmónica de Vilagarcía (SFV); in Mexico with the OSUANL in Monterrey in an opera and zarzuela gala concert under the baton of Teresa Rodríguez, and at the Teatro de la Ciudad in a production of L’elisir d’amore (Belcore) under the baton of Felipe Tristán, staging of Ivet Pérez, and the Monterrey Summer Opera Academy. In 2021 he made his debut at the 42nd La Versiliana Festival in conjunction with the 67th Festival Puccini Torre del Lago in their closing concert "Oh! Dolci Baci”, and his debut as Don Giovanni at the Teatro Riccardo Zandonai Rovereto under the musical guidance of maestri Giuseppe Sabbatini and Nicola Ulivieri. In 2020 he made his Italian debut at the Festival Internazionale di Mezza Estate (FIME) singing the title role in Gianni Schicchi under the baton of Alexander Frey and staging of Giandomenico Vaccari; in 2021 he returned to sing in La traviata (Germont), Pagliacci (Silvio), as well as in several concerts conducted by Giuseppe Acquaviva, Dian Tchobanov, Martins Ozolins and Marc Moncusí. In 2020 he worked with William Crutchfield and his Teatro Nuovo co-producing videos that revived songs from the bel canto era. In 2018 he made his Carnegie Hall debut in an opera gala featuring young international artists, and his debut in Boston at the Paramount Center and Cutler Majestic Theatre in BUOI productions under the baton of William Lumpkin and direction of Crystal Manich and E. Loren Meeker.

 

In 2022 Fernando won First prize at the Premio Lirico Internazionale Umberto Giordano in its 21st edition, was a finalist at the prestigious Concorso Lirico Internazionale Ottavio Ziino in Rome, won First prize ex-aequo for a new original composition by the Fundación Victoria de los Ángeles in Barcelona, the “Best Latin American male voice” award sponsored by Ocuri Investments, a scholarship to attend the prestigious Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and a contract to make his debut at the Teatro G.B. Pergolesi in Jesi, Italy; all this at the Concorso SOI Fiorenza Cedolins. He was also a finalist at the 58º Concorso Internazionale Voci Verdiane di Busseto with Fabrizio Cassi conducting La Toscanini orchestra, won Third prize at the 26è Concurs Josep Mirabent I Magrans in Sitges, Spain, and Third prize at the Zenith Opera Competition. In 2021 he won both First prize and the Ópera de Bellas Artes prize at the 38º Concurso Nacional de Canto Carlo Morelli and First prize in the Zarzuela division (sponsored by the Spanish magazine Ópera Actual) at the Concorso SOI Fiorenza Cedolins. In 2017 he won Third prize at the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition in New York City and was a finalist at the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition. As a pianist, in 2005 he won Second prize at the Concurso Nacional de Piano Ollin Yolitzli in Mexico City.

 

He has participated in masterclasses with top level artists such as: Rolando Panerai, Mignon Dunn, Helmut Deutsch, Dolora Zajick, Eric Halfvarson, Howard Watkins, Lucas Meachem, Brian Jagde, David Lomelí, Mireille Delunsch, and Bruno Praticò.

 

His repertoire includes the title roles in Don Giovanni and Gianni Schicchi, La serva padrona (Uberto), Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro and Conte Almaviva), Così fan tutte (Guglielmo), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro), La Cenerentola (Dandini), Il signor Bruschino (Gaudenzio), L’elisir d’amore (Belcore), Don Pasquale (Dottor Malatesta), La traviata (Giorgio Germont), Carmen (Escamillo), Pagliacci (Silvio), Cavalleria Rusticana (Alfio), La bohème (Marcello and Schaunard), Madama Butterfly (Sharpless), Pelléas et Mélisande (Golaud), L’enfant et les sortilèges (Le fauteuil), Albert Herring (Sid), and the zarzuela Luisa Fernanda (Vidal).

 

The Brooklyn Discovery (Pantano, N.) has defined his voice as: “Dark, vibrating, penetrating…evoking memories of the great Italian and Spanish baritones of the past”, the Boston Music Intelligencer (Eiseman, L.) has described his stage presence as: “Tremendously strong and dramatic” and his instrument as a “Bona fide money voice”, Opera senza confini (Mercuri, E.) has praised the natural vocal weight of his voice, Opera libera (Faverzani, M.) has celebrated his respect towards the musical and dynamic intentions when singing Verdi, Mundo Clásico (Binaghi, J.) wrote: “An opera ‘factotum’ who showed powerful means”, El Norte (Marcos, R.) described him as: “a fantastic baritone with a well placed instrument of good sonorities, scenic commitment, and a great handling of coloratura”; El Universal (Azar. L.) celebrated his “warm baritonal register”, and Voce di Meche has praised the power of his instrument and his ability to portray different characters with great ease. 

 

 

— March 2023