Juan Diego Florez

Juan Diego Flórez was Born in Lima, Peru, in 1973. His father was a guitarist and his mother managed a bar with live music where the young Juan Diego would often stand in as replacement singer. He entered the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima at the age of 17, and went on to study at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where he began performing in student opera productions. In 1996 he made his official operatic debut in Matilde di Shabran at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, where his expressive voice and astonishing agility immediately won him critical accolades. Since then, Flórez has become the Rossini tenor of choice in major international theatres. Prizes awarded to Florez include the Abbiati Prize conferred by Italian music critics, Rossini d’Oro in Pesaro, Aureliano Pertile’s Prize, Francesco Tamagno Prize, L’Opera Award Prize, Bellini’s Prize.