Fernando Cisneros
BARITONE
Biography
Fernando is a young baritone born and raised in Mexico City praised by his dark, vibrant and penetrating voice that evokes memories of the great Italian baritones of the past (Brooklyn Discovery). Besides his studies in voice, he is an accomplished pianist, has studied composition, music production and is completely fluent English, Italian and French. Fernando holds a bachelor’s degree in Digital Music Production Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores Monterrey in Mexico City and a masters degree in classical voice from the Manhattan School of Music. He began studying voice at the CentrÓpera Enrique Jaso in Mexico while still completing his undergraduate studies. After his graduate studies, he was a young resident artist at the Opera Institute Boston University and studied at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices (IYDV). He moved to Italy to specialize at the Accademia Verdiana Teatro Regio di Parma and studied privately with Giancarlo del Monaco and Carlo Colombara. He currently continues mastering his craft under the guidance of Dolora Zajick and Renato Bruson.
For the ongoing 2025|2026 season he recently performed in La Traviata (Germont) [Tristán|Conde] at the Teatro de la Ciudad in Monterrey as part of the Festival Internacional Santa Lucía (FISL) and will be making his debut at the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza in La Bohème (Schaunard) [Milletarì|Nucci]. He recently performed at the Sarzana Opera Festival in the title role in Simon Boccanegra [Giaroli|Panizza] and in Il Trovatore (Conte di Luna) [Salvagno]. During the 2024|2025 season he covered the roles of Gérard in Andrea Chénier [Lanzillotta|Berloffa], Scarpia in Tosca [Oren|Franconi-Lee] and the title role in Macbeth [Abbado|Audi] at the Teatro Regio di Parma. He made his debut at the Festival Verdi di Parma in the main role in Simon Boccanegra [Faggiani] at the Teatro Verdi di Busseto and made his debut at the Teatro Verdi di Pisa, Teatro del Giglio Giacomo Puccini, Teatro Ponchielli di Cremona, Teatro Sociale di Como, Teatro Grande di Brescia, Teatro Fraschini di Pavia e Teatro Sociale di Rovigo in Andrea Chénier (Mathieu and Fléville) [Pasqualetti|Cigni].
During the 2023|2024 season he made his debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova in La bohème (Schaunard) [Ciampa|Fornari], at the Teatro Verdi di Trieste and Teatro Nuevo Giovanni da Udine in Manon Lescaut (Lescaut) [Fratta|Montavon]. In 2022 he made his debut in Cavalleria Rusticana (Alfio) [La Malfa|Baffuno] at the Teatro Comunale Fusco in Taranto; in Spain with the Sociedad Filarmónica de Vilagarcía (SFV); in Mexico with L’elisir d’amore (Belcore) [Tristán|Pérez] at the Teatro de la Ciudad in Monterrey and with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (OSUANL). In 2021 he made his debut in Italy in the title role of Don Giovanni [Sabbatini|Ulivieri] at the Teatro Riccardo Zandonai di Rovereto, at the 67th Festival Puccini Torre del Lago, the 42nd La Versiliana Festival, and at the 37th Festival Internazionale di Mezza Estate (FIME) in the title role in Gianni Schicchi [Frey|Vaccari], La traviata (Germont) and Pagliacci (Silvio) [Tchobanov|Vaccari].
In 2018 he made his Carnegie Hall debut. In Boston, he performed at the Paramount Center in Albert Herring (Sid) [Lumpkin|Manich], at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Pelléas et Mélisande (Golaud) [Lumpkin|Meeker], and at the Tsai Performance Center in La Traviata (Germont) [Lumpkin|Troup]. In 2017 in Così fan tutte (Guglielmo) [Oswald] at Opera America New York, in 2016 in Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro) [Boyagian|Diamond], Don Pasquale (Malatesta) [Muraco|Koroneos] and L’enfant et les sortilèges (Le fauteuil) [Vallet|Robinson] at the Manhattan School of Music. In 2015, in La Cenerentola (Dandini) at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, and in 2014, in Il Signor Bruschino (Gaudenzio) and Luisa Fernanda (Vidal) at the Escuela Superior de Música in Mexico City with CentrÓpera Enrique Jaso.
Fernando has received several prizes and awards in international competitions: First prize at the Premio Lirico Internazionale Umberto Giordano in its 21st edition, First prize and the Ópera de Bellas Artes prize at the 38º Concurso Nacional de Canto Carlo Morelli in Mexico and First prize in the Zarzuela division (sponsored by the Spanish magazine Ópera Actual) at the Concorso SOI Fiorenza Cedolins, First prize for a new original composition by the Fundación Victoria de los Ángeles in Barcelona, Third prize at the 26è Concurs Josep Mirabent I Magrans in Spain, Third prize at the Zenith Opera Competition (ZOC), and Third prize at the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition in New York City. He received the “Best Latin American male voice” award sponsored by Ocuri Investments, the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini award, and a scholarship to attend the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He was also a finalist at the 58º Concorso Internazionale Voci Verdiane di Busseto, the Concorso Lirico Internazionale Ottavio Ziino in its 21st edition, and the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition in New York. As a pianist, in 2005 he won Second prize at the Concurso Nacional de Piano Ollin Yolitzli in Mexico City.
– October 2025