Luis Ledesma

Artistic Director & Baritone

Mexican baritone Luis Ledesma has established a reputation as a “rich and well controlled baritone” (Opera News). He frequently portrays the heroes and villains of Puccini, Verdi, and the bel canto masters as well as roles in recent new works in Spanish including Florencia en el Amazonas and El pasado nunca se termina. His operatic and concert career has advanced in Europe, the United States, and South America and includes theaters such as Teatro alla Scala (Luisa Fernanda), the Liceu in Barcelona (Alphonse in La favorite, Riccardo in I puritani, and Marcello in La bohème), and the Klangbogen Festival in Vienna (Leoncavallo’s La bohème).

In the United States, Mr. Ledesma has sung with many companies, including but not limited to Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Diego Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and New York City Opera Opera. He also sang two tours with Andrea Bocelli, performing in famous venues such as Madison Square Garden, Hollywood Bowl, Hard Rock Café in Hollywood, Florida, and the Auditorio Nacional Mexico City. Following performances as Macbeth for Syracuse Opera and Sharpless with Pacific Symphony and Opera Omaha, most recently Mr. Ledesma performed Scarpia in Tosca for Opera Colorado and the title role of Gianni Schicchi for On-site Opera in New York. He looks forward to singing Piazzola’s Maria de Buenos Aires for Kentucky Ópera in the fall.

Mr. Ledesma made his Carnegie Hall debut in the Faure Requiem and returned for Dvorak’s Te Deum. He has sung Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Mann Music Center with The Philadelphia Orchestra and with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. He has performed a variety of orchestral repertoire including Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Louisville Orchestra, and a Verdi concert presented in Die Alte Opera Frankfurt.

Mr. Ledesma is on the voice faculties of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and the Curtis Institute of Music and has been building teaching affiliations internationally for over a decade. In Mexico, he has worked with singers at the University of Sonora, Conservatorio Nacional de Mexico, Escuela Superior de Musica in Monterrey, Universidad de Puebla, Universidad de Monterrey, and Universidad Michoacana in Morelia. He continues to work with young artists in San Pedro de Cholula and through his efforts many young singers have been introduced to prestigious institutions throughout the United States and in Europe. Mr. Ledesma was the artist in residence for Oberlin in Italy and Emerging Artists voice instructor and continues to give many master classes around the world.