Tenor Rolando Villazon just signed an exclusive contract with Virgin Classics. His first solo recording was released in early 2004 featuring italian arias from works by Donizetti, Verdi, Cilea, Puccini and Mascagni.

Mr. Villazon will be making debuts this season as Alfredo in La Traviata at the MET, Hoffmann in Les Contes dґ Hoffmann at Covent Garden and in the title role of Don Carlo at the Netherlands Opera. During the 2003-2004 season he also sings Alfredo at Paris Bastille Opera, Faust at Munichґs Bavarian State Opera and Nemorino in LґElisir dґAmore at Berlinґs Deutsche Staatsoper.

After making his European debut as Des Grieux in Manon in Genoa in March of 1999, Mr. Villazon has sung at the Hamburg State Opera, Lyon Opera, Rome Opera, Bregenz Festival, Bellas Artes Mexican Opera, Antibes Festival, Munich State Opera, Berlin Deutsche Oper and Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Festival, Paris Bastille Opera, Oviedo, Trieste, Brussels La Monnaie, Los Angeles Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Macerata Festival, Orange Festival and NY City Opera.

He can also be heard singing the Steersman in Wagnerґs Der Fliegende Hollдnder under Daniel Barenboim (TELDEC).

Rolando Villazon was born in 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico. At the age of 11, he joined the Espacios academy for the performing arts, where he studied music, acting, contemporary dance and ballet. In 1990 Villazon met baritone Arturo Nieto who introduced him to the world of opera and became his voice teacher. Two years later, he entered the National Conservatory of Music to continue his vocal preparation with Enrique Jaso. There, he sang Dorvil from La Scala di Seta, Florville from Il Signor Bruschino, and Alessandro from Il Re Pastore. After winning two national contests in Mexico City and Guanajuato, Villazon became a student of baritone Gabriel Mijares, with whom he continued his studies before launching an international career.

In 1998, he entered the San Francisco Operaґs prestigious Merola Opera Program, where he participated in master classes with Joan Sutherland and performed the role of Alfredo in La Traviata. He subsequently became a member of the Pittsburgh Operaґs Young Artists Program, appearing in productions of I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Lucia di Lammermoor and Samuel Barberґs Vanessa. In 1999, Mr. Villazon won Prize of the Public, the Zarzuela Prize, and second prize overall in Placido Domingoґs Operalia competition.

On February 2003 Rolando Villazon received Les Victoires de la Musique recognition for the foreign revelation in France.

Rolando Villazon official website www.rolandovillazon.com