This season Mexican baritone Armando Pina makes his Salzburg Festival debut as Lescaut in Manon Lescaut opposite Anna Netrebko under the baton of maestro Marco Armiliato and as Luca di Beaumanoir in Nicolai’s Il Templario. He will be debuting in the Bellas Artes in Mexico City as Riccardo in I Puritani, starring tenor Javier Camarena. From 2010 to 2012, as a member of the International Opera Studio in Zürich Opera House, Mr. Pina has worked with acclaimed maestros Francisco Araiza and Bruno Pola and performed in multiple productions such as Il Barbiere diSiviglia, Le Comte Ory, Rigoletto, Don Carlo, Janacek´s Aus einem Totenhaus, and others, as well as the “Zentralhof Opera Pop Konzert”, an open air project with the “Zürcher Fest Spiele”. Since 2013, he has been a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, USA where he has performed roles such as Germont in La Traviata, Tomsky in Pique Dame, Marcello in La Boheme and most recently Manfredo in Montemezzi’s rarely performed opera L’Amore dei Tre Re. Mr. Pina’s professional experience includes Escamillo in Carmen, Marcello inLa Boheme, Silvio in I Pagliacci, Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore, Julian in the world premiere of La Paloma y el Ruisenor by Roger Bourland, The Death in Holst’s Savitri, Mario in Montsalvatge’s Una Voce in Off, Don Diego in Penella Moreno’s Zarzuela Don Gil de Alcala, among others. Mr Pina’s concert performances include Carmina Burana and Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Sinaloa de las Artes Orchestra. In 2008 Mr. Pina received his Bachelors in Voice from Escuela Superior de Canto in Sinaloa, Mexico and is a winner of Concurso Internacional de Canto de Sinaloa in 2014 and Carlo Morelli’s Bellas Artes Competition in Mexico City in 2009 and 2015. He is a 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Washington District Winner.