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Luis Ledesma has established himself as an international singer with powerful, yet refined vocal and theatrical gifts. Born in Mexico City, his career advanced in Europe and in the United States (where he is now a citizen) after a young artist residency at The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and after winning several competitions, including the Pavarotti International Voice Competition and Julian Gayarre Competition in Spain.
His career already includes appearances in several international opera houses around the world, including Teatro alla Scala (Luisa Fernanda), the Liceu in Barcelona (Alphonse in La favorite, Riccardo in I puritani and Marcello in La bohème), Klangbogen Festival in Vienna (Leoncavallo's La bohème), Wexford Festival (Don Pasquale), Teatro Municipal de Santiago (Escamillo in Carmen), Semperoper in Dresden (Marcello in La bohème), several roles for Koeln Oper (including Don Carlo and Germont), Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia), Bellas Artes in Mexico City (Marcello in La bohème), Macau Festival (Sharpless in Madama Butterfly), Graz Oper (Escamillo in Carmen), the Philadelphia Orchestra (Marcello in a concert version of La boheme) and the Savonlinna Opera Festival (Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and Escamillo).
In the United States, Mr. Ledesma has sung with many companies, including Houston Grand Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, Madison Opera, Nashville Opera, Portland Opera, Indianapolis and Connecticut Opera, Opera Pacific, Palm Beach Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Carolina, Memphis Opera, Minnesota Opera, Florentine Opera, and Hawaii Opera. He also sang two tours with Andrea Bocelli, performing in famous venues such as Madison Square Garden, Hollywood Bowl, Hard Rock Café in Hollywood, Florida, and the Auditorio Nacional Mexico City.
Mr. Ledesma frequently portrays the heroes and villains of Puccini and Verdi in addition to performing the important bel canto roles of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini. His growing repertoire includes many roles in the French repertoire and has extended to the verismo composers such as Leoncavallo and Giordano.
The 2011-2012 season features Tonio for Ottawa Opera, Germont for Syracuse Opera, Valentin for Naples Opera and a return to Michigan Opera Theater for Tonio and Silvio. Last season included several Escamillos (New Jersey Opera, Manitoba Opera and The Orlando Philharmonic) and continued with Tonio in Pagliacci for San Antonio Opera and Gerard in Andrea Chenier for Nashville Opera followed by Escamillo for Arizona Opera and Valentin for Hawaii Opera.
Recent seasons included several debuts, including the title role of Rigoletto for Florentine Opera, Jack Rance in La fanciulla del west with L’opera de Montreal, Germont in La traviata with Florida Grand Opera, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Mobile Opera, Marcello in Lisbon, Portugal (Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos), Scarpia for Arizona Opera, Valentin in Fresno, and both Enrico and Escamillo for the Savonlinna Festival in Finland. Other recent appearances have included Gerard in Andrea Chenier, Scarpia and the High Priest in Samson and Dalila for Nashville Opera, Germont for Michigan Opera Theater and Scarpia, Tonio and Sharpless for San Antonio Opera in addition to a debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in concert performances of La bohème (Marcello) at the Mann Music Center and the Vail Festival.
Additionally as a concert artist, Mr. Ledesma has performed a variety of orchestral repertoire, including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Faure Requiem and Orff's Carmina Burana. Most recently he sang Carmina Burana with the Louisville Orchestra and a series of Christmas concerts in Hannover with the NDR Radiophilharmonie in addition to a Verdi gala concert held in Die Alte Opera Frankfurt. Upcoming engagements include performances of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony with The Philadelphia Orchestra in June.
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