Javier Gonzalez
tenor
Javier Gonzalez, a native of Southern California, studied vocal performance at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Recognized for the precision and soaring beauty of his tone, Mr. Gonzalez has performed in concert and opera productions such as Luisa Fernanda, Die Zauberflöte, L’elisir d’amor, Andrea Chenier, Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly and Edgar. He has performed with world-renowned tenor Placido Domingo on the Kennedy Center opera stage and has also performed on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City under the baton of world-renowned composer, John Rutter.
In 2008, Mr. Gonzalez was recipient of the first place prize in the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition in New York City and performed in a winner’s recital on the stage of Carnegie Hall. He was also a finalist in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist competition in 2005 as well as 1st place winner of the UNM concert competition and the regional NATS competition of New Mexico in 2010.
Mr. Gonzalez has also taken the opera stage abroad, playing the role of Don Jose from Bizet’s Carmen for the Alba Music Festival at the Teatro Politeama, Italy. Mr. Gonzalez has also appeared in several oratorio works on the international stage performing Requiem by Verdi, Requiem by Mozart, Requiem by Lloyd Webber, Lord Nelson Mass by Haydn, and Magnificat by Pergolesi on such stages as Dvorak Hall in Prague, Ely Cathedral in Cambridge, St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. and many more. In April of 2010 he sang the role of John the beloved apostle on the stage of Carnegie Hall in the world premiere of Oh My Son. For ten years, he served as the assistant choral director of the Georgetown Presbyterian Chorale in Washington, D.C. and has also been a guest choral and vocal clinician for the Vocal Arts Society of Washington.
Gonzalez has also worked with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, under the direction of Dr. Maxine Thévenot and will serve as tenor soloist under Dr. Thévenot, performing Handel’s Messiah with Polyphony as a part of the Friends of Cathedral Music series at the Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque, in March of 2012.
He is currently studying for his Master’s degree in vocal performance and choral conducting at the University of New Mexico and is also the recipient of the 2010–2012 voice teacher assistantship.