Mexican tenor DAVID LOMELÍ’s performances have garnered tremendous critical acclaim, with Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times calling his New York City Opera performances of Nemorino “a terrific debut,” The Independent’s Edward Seckerson praising his “bright vibrant top and bags of conviction” in his Glyndebourne Festival debut performances as Rodolfo in La bohème, and Operasora announcing him an “up-coming tenor star” after performances as the Duke in Rigoletto with Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.

Critically acclaimed for his performances as the legendary Verdi character, David Lomelí portrays the Duke with three companies this season and adds the new roles of Graf Leicester and Riccardo Percy to his repertoire with company debuts at Oper Frankfurt in concert performances of Maria Stuarda and at Oper Köln in a new production of Anna Bolena. Tonight, Lomelí performs with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in concert performances of Rigoletto, followed immediately by September performances at San Francisco Opera under the baton of Nicola Luisotti, concluding in April 2013 with a new production of the opera at Deutsche Oper Berlin led by Pablo Heras-Casado. Further highlighting the young tenor’s 2012/13 season are performances of Verdi’s monumental Requiem with Philharmonie Essen and his first-ever solo recital at the Mondavi Arts Center on the campus of UC Davis.

Successful performances in past seasons have included engagements with Santa Fe Opera, Theater Basel in Switzerland, and Pacific Symphony (Rodolfo in La bohème), New York City Opera (Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Alfredo in La traviata and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor), Houston Grand Opera (La traviata), Pittsburgh Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor), Opéra de Lille (MacDuff in Macbeth), Michigan Opera Theater (Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni), Madison Opera (the title role in Gounod’s Faust), Canadian Opera Company, and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in Germany (Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto), as well as festival performances at the Glyndebourne Festival (La bohème). Among Lomelí’s most important concert engagements were performances of Verdi’s Requiem with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by Gustavo Dudamel and with the Berlin Philharmonic under Mariss Jansons. He has also sung in concert with the Oslo Philharmonic, the Prague Philharmonic, the Hamburg Symphony, the Munich Radio Orchestra, and Sinfonieorchester Basel.

The international opera community first took notice of David Lomelí in 2006, when the young tenor – then only 25 years old – scored a stunning double victory in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition. At that time, David was the only singer to ever win a first-place prize in both the opera and zarzuela divisions. Plácido Domingo tapped the tenor for the LA Opera program after hearing him sing “Che gelida manina” from La bohème at his audition, which had been set up by the noted singer and voice teacher César Ulloa, with whom Lomelí studied in Mexico City. During his tenure with the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program in Los Angeles, Lomelí performed Rodolfo in La bohème and appeared as Javier in Federico Moreno Torroba’s zarzuela Luisa Fernanda.

A graduate of both the Merola Opera Program and San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship program, Lomelí made his San Francisco Opera debut in the 2008/09 season as Alfredo in La traviata. He has also appeared with the company as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and as Harry in La Fanciulla del West.

In addition to the Operalia competition, Lomelí was a first-place winner at the national tenor competition in Merida, Mexico and secured prizes at the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the Montserrat Caballé Competition, and the José Iturbi Voice Competition, where he was also given the People’s Choice Award. One of the highlights of his career was performing at a 2010 Grammy Award tribute to his mentor, Plácido Domingo.