Through his captivating performances on the world’s most important stages, Rolando Villazón has established himself as one of the leading artists of our time. Celebrated and beloved by critics and audiences alike, Villazón’s versatility is unrivaled: in addition to his stage career, he is also a successful director, author, artistic director of the Mozarteum Foundation, and radio and television personality.

Born in Mexico City, he began his musical studies at his home country’s National Conservatory before becoming a member of the young talent programs at the Pittsburgh and San Francisco Opera houses. Rolando Villazón quickly made a name for himself on the international music scene after winning several prizes at Plácido Domingo’s “Operalia” competition in 1999 (including the Zarzuela Prize and the Audience Award). In the same year he made his European debut as Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon in Genoa, as well as debuts as Alfredo in La Traviata at the Opéra de Paris and as Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth at the Berlin State Opera. Since then, Rolando Villazón has been a regular guest at the state operas in Berlin, Munich and Vienna, at La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Salzburg Festival, working with leading orchestras and renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Antonio Pappano and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He has performed at London’s Barbican Hall, the Philharmonie in Paris, Berlin and Cologne, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Accademia Nazionalle di Santa Cecilia in Rome and New York’s Carnegie Hall, among others. In 2011, Rolando Villazón made his directorial debut at the Lyon Opera and has since directed at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, the Vienna Volksoper, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and most recently at the 2022 Salzburg Festival, where his production of Il barbiere di Siviglia with a star-studded cast under the direction of Cecilia Bartoli was acclaimed by critics and audiences.

Rolando Villazón has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist since 2007. He has sold over 2 million albums worldwide and released over 20 CDs and DVDs, which have received numerous awards. He has also been awarded the title of Chévalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, one of the highest honors in the field of art and literature, in France, his permanent residence. Rolando Villazón is an ambassador for RED NOSES Clowndoctors International and a member of the Collège de Pataphysique de Paris. His first novel, “Malabares,” was published in 2013, followed by “Lebenskünstler” in 2017, and “Amadeus auf dem Fahrrad” in 2020, which spent several weeks on the bestseller list of Der Spiegel magazine. Rolando Villazón presented his own series “Stars of Tomorrow” on Arte, hosted Radio Classique in France, and can be heard daily with “Furioso” on Klassik Radio. In 2017, he was appointed an ambassador for the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg. He currently serves as the foundation’s artistic director.

Rolando Villazón will be the soloist in the concert on 5. August 2025.