Arturo Chacón-Cruz, a native of Sonora, Mexico, has established himself in recent years as a leading tenor with exciting appearances in renowned theaters and concert halls across the globe. He has sung over 60 roles in more than 30 countries.
Since winning Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition in 2005, Arturo’s career has seen a successful and steady development. His repertoire spans from Bellini and Donizetti to Puccini and Verdi. Some of his more sought after roles are: Rodolfo, the Duke of Mantua, Alfredo, Jacopo Foscari, Gabriele Adorno, B.F. Pinkerton, Hoffmann, Werther, and Romeo to name a few.
He has sung private recitals for His Majesties Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos of Spain, as well as another one for all the leaders of Iberoamerica, and His Majesty King Felipe of Spain.
Recent highlights include Verdi role debuts as Manrico in Il Trovatore and Oronte in I Lombardi. He was Alfredo in La Traviata and Hoffmann in The Tales of Hoffmann at the prestigious Liceu de Barcelona, he also recently performed Cavaradossi in Tosca, Ismael in Nabucco, and Rodolfo in Verdi’s Luisa Miller in Oviedo, Valencia and Barcelona respectively. He sang his first Nemorino in Donizetti’s “Elixir of Love” in Palermo, Italy and afterwards he performed it again in Macau, China.
Role highlights include: The Duke in “Rigoletto” in Houston, San Francisco, Ai-en-Provence, Verona, Naples, Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles and Florence, “La Boheme” in Bologna, Liege, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin, Graz, Köln, Macerata, Miami, Tokyo, Munich, Stockholm, Moscow and Hamburg, “La Traviata” (Munich, Valencia, Moscow, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Rome, Barcelona, Verona and Oman), Ruggero in Puccini’s “La Rondine” in Genova, Detroit, and Zagreb, Faust in Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” in Mexico City’s Bellas Artes, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Werther in Barcelona and Budapest, Des Grieux in Massenet’s “Manon” in Monte Carlo, and Mexico City, Don Jose in “Carmen” in Tel Aviv, Lyon, Tampere, Palermo and Zurich, as well as a critically acclaimed role debut as Macduff (Verdi’s “Macbeth”) in Los Angeles and Vienna.
Recent collaborations with star directors Sofia Coppola (La Traviata, with Valentino costumes) and Woody Allen (Gianni Schicchi, available in DVD and BluRay by Sony) resulted in international acclaim and all sold out performances in Los Angeles, Valencia and Rome.
Upcoming performances include a very important Verdian role debut as King Gustav III in “Un Ballo in Maschera” in Norway, he will also reprise the roles of Alfredo in “La Traviata” in Seville and Moscow, Hoffmann in “The Tales of Hoffmann” in Berlin and Parma, among many others.
In addition to an extensive existing operatic discography, the artist’s first solo CD is available. “Arturo Chacón le canta a México”, features some of the most beautiful Mexican music ever written, and is accompanied by the Orquesta Filarmónica de Sonora. Arturo’s Mariachi recordings “De México para el Mundo” and “De mi Casa a tu Casa” were recently released, including a duet with his wife Venetia-Maria Stelliou, as well as his first ever English language recording “A Christmas Wonderland” available on all digital platforms as well as physically on Amazon.
Chacón-Cruz has received many honors and awards throughout the years. The most recent one being the “Moncayo Medal” in Jalisco, Mexico, he was also “GQ Man of the Year 2018” in Mexico. He was the “Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Emerging Star” of 2017 for the San Francisco Opera.
He received the Alfonso Ortíz Tirado medal in 2013 (Sonora’s highest cultural award), the Distinguished Sonoran Medal 2009, the Culturarte de Puerto Rico, the Opera de Valencia and the Plácido Domingo Zarzuela Awards in Operalia 2005 in Madrid’s Teatro Real. He received the Eleanor McCollum 1st Prize Award, and Audience Choice Award with the Houston Grand Opera in 2003, among many others.
He made his La Scala di Milano debut as Hoffmann in Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann”, and received a very warm reception from the audience and press: “He excellently portrayed the lovelorn poet, with a youthfulness that only made him more attractive, exhibiting great mastery over his instrument and an indeed pleasant high register, all in all, a brilliant participation”. (GB Opera)
Arturo shares a long and important relationship with two of the reigning opera singers of our day, Plácido Domingo and Ramón Vargas. Since discovering Arturo in 2000, Plácido Domingo has remained Arturo’s friend and mentor, and the two have shared the operatic stage and concert platform many times.
Arturo was awarded the Plácido Domingo Scholarship in 2002, and Mr. Domingo himself helped launch Arturo’s international career after Arturo’s success in the Operalia Competition. Arturo also enjoys a nurturing friendship with Ramón Vargas who became a mentor, teacher and friend over a decade ago.
Arturo is also the spokesperson for Beyond Celiac, an organization he proudly supports that works towards a cure for Celiac Disease.
He currently lives in Miami with his wife and his son.
