Tenor Javier Camarena makes his Lyric debut in Rigoletto

The only person in history to sing an encore in three different productions at the Metropolitan Opera, Mexican tenor Javier Camarena will make his Lyric debut as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto (Sept 14 - Oct 6, 2024). Originally from Xalapa, Veracruz in Mexico and now residing in Zurich, Switzerland, Camarena has achieved international acclaim for his burnished tone and commanding vocals. 

Before his career in opera, a teenaged Camarena was in a cover band that played at weddings. After beginning his studies at the Universidad Veracruzana, he decided to switch his focus from electrical engineering to vocal performance. When Camarena’s then-angry mother told him he could end up sweeping the streets if he pursued music, he replied, "Maybe I will. But I will be happy." It was during his vocal performance studies that Camarena saw his first opera — a video of Puccini’s Turandot at the Met. Suddenly, he knew: He must pursue opera. Camarena transferred to the University of Guanajuato and finished his degree studying with Hugo Barreiro and Maria Eugenia Sutti.

Camarena made his professional debut in 2004 at Mexico’s Palace of Fine Arts as Tonio in Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, and was shortly thereafter invited to join the Zurich Opera ensemble, where he served as a member from 2006 to 2014. During his 2014 performance of Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Camarena became the third singer since 1942 to break the no encores tradition at the Met (joining Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Diego Flórez). In 2016, as Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Camarena became the second singer to perform multiple encores at the house. Then, during his 2019 performance of Tonio in La fille du régiment, Camarena became the only person to ever perform an encore in three different productions at the Met.

Since then, Camarena has gone on to win the International Society for the Performing Arts 2019 Distinguished Artist Award; the 2019 Bellas Artes Opera Medal; the 2019 Mozart Medal; the 2020 Opera News Award; and the International Opera Awards’ 2021 Male Singer of the Year award.

Now, as one of the world’s most sought-after artists, Camarena excites audiences and elicits raucous applause. Lyric audiences are sure to be delighted when he takes the stage for the first time in Chicago.