Javier Camarena arrives at the Cervantino Festival

Guanajuato is the second Mexican home of tenor Javier Camarena (Xalapa, 1976), the same one where he continued his music studies , the one that gave him independence as a budding artist and the place where he met his wife. Now he returns to the same city to perform at the 53rd edition of the International Cervantino Festival , with a recital at the Juárez Theater.

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I have to return to the Cervantino, which is my second home – after its presentation in 2019 – to sing in the iconic Teatro Juárez, so it is a presentation that fills me with great emotion and where I will have a program dedicated to opera with a nod to zarzuela with arias from Romeo and Juliet, Lucia di Lammeermoor and La favorite, he detailed in an interview.

CAMARENA'S UPCOMING COMMITMENTS

By phone, Camarena also discussed his upcoming engagements in Spain . First, his appearance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona , ​​where he will sing as Nemorino in Elíxir de amor on November 22, 25, and 28, and December 2, 5, and 13; and his return to the Teatro Real in Madrid in May 2026, as Romeo in the opera Romeo and Juliet.

"The most remarkable thing about this Elixir of Love is that I will return to the Liceu Theatre this season, with this opera, which practically opened the doors to Spain for me. I performed at the Liceu for the first time 13 years ago, and many other things grew out of that. It was precisely with this very production that I made my debut, so it's a very emotional and, to a certain extent, nostalgic moment to remember what making that debut at that theatre meant to me," she expressed.

And at the Teatro Real he will sing Romeo and Juliet , an opera he considers his favorite , alongside soprano Nadine Sierra.

"It's an opera we've partnered with on several occasions, and I must say it's a tremendously gratifying experience to work with one of the most important sopranos of her generation," Camarena concluded.

WHO IS JAVIER CAMARENA?

Javier Camarena was born on March 26, 1976 in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. His vocal training began at the Faculty of Music of the University of Veracruz and continued under the tutelage of Hugo Barreiro and María Eugenia Sutti at the University of Guanajuato, where he graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Music degree .

Since his professional debut in 2004 as Tonio in Donizetti's La fille du régiment at the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), Camarena has enjoyed a career that has taken him to the world's leading opera houses. He specializes in the bel canto repertoire (Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini) and has also performed roles by Mozart and Verdi with success.

One of his milestones was at the Metropolitan Opera, where he became the only singer in the theater's history to perform encores in three different productions: La Cenerentola (2014), Don Pasquale (2016), and La fille du régiment (2019). In 2021, he was recognized as "Male Singer of the Year" by the International Opera Awards, placing him among the highest exponents of opera singing worldwide.

Her voice is distinguished by a luminous timbre, brilliant high notes , and exceptional coloratura, which has earned her the nickname "the voice that caresses the soul." Despite her international success, Camarena maintains a close connection with her home country, performing regularly in Mexico and acknowledging her "bolero connection" with the Mexican public.

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