Juan Fernando Gutiérrez – baritone

Baritone Juan Fernando Gutiérrez was born in 1980 in Columbia. He began his voice studies at the University of Antioquia under Danaila Hristova and Detlef Scholz. In 2002 he relocated to Vienna, where he continued his studies under KS Margarita Lilowa, KS Robert Holl and Prof. Ralf Döring before graduating in 2009, further enhancing his artistic training with participation in diverse Master Classes by KS Peter Gugalof in Berlin, KS Hilde Zadek in Vienna, KS Monserrat Caballé in Spain and Franco Pagliazzi in Italy.  In addition, Juan Fernando Gutiérrez was a finalist in several important competitions, including Klassikmania and the International Hilde Zadek Competition in 2009. In the same year he also won the Audience Prize of the Otto Edelmann Society, and 1^st Prize, the Gold Medallion, the Audience Prize, the “Osamu Uno”-Prize and a Development Grant at the 10^th International Music Competition in Osaka/Japan.

Juan Fernando Gutiérrez made his operatic debut in 2000 at Teatro Metropolitano in his native Columbia as Papageno. Engagements as Orfeo in Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice”, Figaro in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”, Posa in “Don Carlo” and El Doctor in the world premiere of the contemporary opera “Documentos del infierno”. In Vienna he triumphed as Jean in the German-language premiere of Charles Gounod’s “La Colombe” in Schlosstheater Schönbrunn. Other roles performed in Vienna include Lorenzo in “Capuleti e i Montecchi”, Conte in “Il Matrimonio Segreto”, Rittmeister Henrici in “Der Bettelstudent”, Dandini in “La Cenerentola” and Silvio in “I Pagliacci”.

Additional important engagements have brought him to diverse festivals, such as the Nederlands KamerOpera Festival in Zwolle, Holland, where he appeared in the Neue Oper Wien production of a contemporary version of the opera “Orfeo” by Christoph Cech, the Haydn Festspielen in Eisenstadt, where he performed the role of Pluto in “L’anima del filosofo” under the direction of Adam Fischer, the Wiener Festwochen in Ulrich Rasche’s “This is not a love song” and the Österreichische Musikwochen in Bulgaria, where he sang Zemlinsky’s “Lyrische Symphonie” under the direction of Georgi Dimitrov. The young baritone has been heard in concert in renowned Viennese halls such as the Gläsernen Saal of the Wiener Musikverein and the Bösendorfer Saal. His wide-ranging repertoire of Cantatas, Masses and Lieder have brought him success throughout Austria and abroad. In December 2009 he sang the baritone role in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Japan with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, which was recorded and issued as a CD and DVD release.

Juan Fernando Gutiérrez joins the ensemble of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich for the 2010-11 season. His roles will encompass Ottokar (“Der Freischütz”), Papageno (“Die Zauberflöte”), Dr. Falke (“Die Fledermaus”) and Taddeo (“L’Italiana in Algeri”).