ROLANDO VILLAZÓN was born in Mexico City, where he studied music at the Academy of Music, before he participated in the Young Artist Programs in Pittsburgh and at the San Francisco Opera. He won several prizes at the Operalia competition in 1999. He established himself quickly and fast became one of the most sought after artists of his generation. He sang among others at the Salzburg Festival, the Milan Scala, the New York Met, the ROH Covent Garden, the Berlin Staatsoper and the the Deutschen oper Berlin, the Paris Opera, the LA Opera, in Munich, Orange, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Roma, Baden-Baden, St. Petersburg and Tokyo. His roles include among others Alfredo, Don Ottavio, Nemorino, Des Grieux (Manon), Rodolfo, Hoffmann, Don Carlo, Roméo, Lucio Silla, Lenski, Werther, Ferrando and Belmonte. Rolando Villazón is a Chévalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2011, he gave his debut at the Opéra de Lyon as a director. At the Wiener Staatsoper, he gave his debut in 2005 as Roméo and also sang here Nemorino, Rodolfo, Alfredo, Werther, Des Grieux, Hoffmann, Duca and in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.