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Jesús León, tenor



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June 2012

Praised for his stratospheric high notes, innate musicality and dashing good looks, Jesús León is quickly earning a place among today’s most promising young lyric tenors. Born in Mexico to musical parents and initially dabbling in guitar lessons, his destiny changed when on a trip to Disneyland in 2004 during an impromptu performance at a restaurant, he made such an impression on a noted voice teacher and several LA opera singers in attendance that he was subsequently offered a scholarship to the UCLA Opera Studio. So began León’s professional singing career that established him as an artist to watch on both sides of the Atlantic in such diverse roles as Alfredo, Il Duca di Mantova, Nemorino and Edgardo.

Fresh from his successful 2009 debut at Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Raymond Gubbay's Classical Spectacular he later appeared at Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. With the Festival Euromediterraneo he sang the tenor solo in Carmina Burana in the Roman Amphitheater Ostia Antica.

In 2012/13 León is to debut at Scottish Opera as Alfredo in La Traviata, sing the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at Estonia’s Birgitta Festival, join Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria in Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette, bring the year to a close with a New Year’s Eve gala (followed by a New Year’s concert) at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, and portray Arturo in I Puritani at Grange Park Opera.

Engagements during 2011/12 saw him perform Alfredo in La Traviata at Dijon Opera and Theatre Caen, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at Teatro del Bicentenario, six concerts at Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and concerts with the Camerata Manchester Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a Mozart Requiem with Orchestra Verdi in Milan.

Past operatic performances include Ernesto in Don Pasquale at Glyndebourne Tour, Riccardo in Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan in Berlin, Cavaradossi/Tosca at Grange Park Opera and NI Ireland Opera, Pinkerton/Madama Buttefly at the Grange Park Opera, Alfredo/La Traviata at the West Bay Opera, Nemorino/L’Elisir d’Amore in Mexico with the Sonora Philharmonic, Fenton/Falstaff (cover) at Glyndebourne, Don Ottavio/Don Giovanni, Rinuccio/Gianni Schicchi and Arkady/A Month in the Country at the Opera Institute in Boston; Il Duca/Rigoletto with San Francisco Lyric Opera, Edgardo/Lucia di Lammermoor with Riverside Opera; Almaviva/The Barber of Seville at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Ferrando/Cosi fan tutte (cover) at Santa Fe Opera, and both Cavaradossi/Tosca and Don José/Carmen (covers) at the Royal Albert Hall.

During his young career, he has already won many grants and awards. In 2010, he received the prestigious "Revelación Juvenil" award from the Mexican government and was presented in recital in the Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado. Other grants include the Vilcek Foundation, Nando Peretti Foundation, Solti Foundation, the Palm Springs Opera Guild, the Institute Sonora of Culture, the American Institute of Fine Arts, and the Opera Buffs Inc. of Los Angeles.

In addition to the UCLA Opera Studio, he was a member of the 2006 Solti Accademia di bel Canto where he was coached by Mirella Freni. He was an inaugural member of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Programme in 2006/2007 at the Los Angeles Opera. Ms. Freni continues to be his main teacher and mentor to this day.






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click here to read Jesús Léon's resume (PDF)




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Opera

Bellini

I Capuleti e i Montecchi

Tebaldo*

La Sonnambula

Elvino*

I Puritani

Arturo*

Donizetti

L'elisir d'amore

Nemorino

Lucia di Lammermoor

Edgardo

La fille du regiment

Tonio*

Don Pasquale

Ernesto*

Mozart

Don Giovanni

Don Ottavio

Cosi fan tutte

Ferrando

Puccini

Gianni Schicchi

Rinuccio

Madama Butterfly

Pinkerton

Rossini

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Almaviva

La Cenerentola

Don Ramiro*

Verdi

Rigoletto

Il Duca di Mantova

La Traviata

Alfredo

Falstaff

Fenton

*studied roles


Concert

Beethoven

Symphony No. 9

Mozart

Requiem

Puccini

Messa di Gloria

Rossini

Stabat Mater

Verdi

Requiem




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MARIA DI ROHAN

Full of cheerful joy of acting such we experienced the Mexican Tenor Jesus Leon in the part of Riccardo with plenty of sweetness and a suppressed lacrima nella voce, a voice with a homogeneous color and secure high tessitura. For once the tenor was not the weakness of the show, but one of its very strengths.

Ingrid Wanja - Der Opernfreund  


TOSCA

Mexican tenor Jesús León (also making his Tosca debut) sang (in English) ‘Lucevan le stelle’ in this grimly foreboding setting, revealing a voice with a ringingly supple top end and lean, strikingly photogenic features.

Terry Blain - BBC Music Magazine


RIGOLETTO

Our Duke, Jesús León, is a natural tenor with an unforced top and the ability to sustain high notes for an impressive length of time. The graduate of a number of prestigious opera programs is also a natural onstage, totally believable as a philandering lover, able to maintain focus in “Questa o quella” as two women ran their hands all over his face and body, and handsome enough to seduce the innocent Gilda into sacrificing her life for him.

Jason Victor Serinus – San Francisco Classical Voice


LA TRAVIATA

Jesús León is a living incarnation of Alfredo. He exudes a boyish charm and a happy-go-lucky approach to life.

Philip G. Hodge – Lasplash.com





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