The Jerezano Ismael Jordi has quickly developed an international career as a tenor, having sung at the age of 30 in the opera houses of Berlin, Vienna, Bern and Strasbourg. Spanish critics have singled him out as the most promising Spanish tenor of the 21st century.

Ismael Jordi was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in 1974. He was initially a semi-professional football player for local Xerex, but always interested in vocal art, he auditioned for the opera choir of the newly re-inaugurated Teatro Villamarta of Jerez. His first appearances came in 1997, when he participated the premiere of Tomás Bretón's (1850-1923) Los Amantes de Teruel at the Teatro Palacio Valdés of Avilés, continuing to the Teatro Jovellanos of Gijón and the Castillo de Mora of Rubielos, Teruel. In 1998 he sang at the Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián, at the Palacio de Festivales in Santander, the Teatro Arriaga of Bilbao and the Cervantes in Málaga, singing the role of Adel.

In October 1998 he was given the opportunity to commence vocal studies at the Escuela Superior de Reina Sofía with maestro Alfredo Kraus, Suso Mariategui and Edelmiro Arnaltes. He had been invited by Kraus personally and for the audition he sang "Lunge da lei" from La Traviata for the legendary tenor. During his period at the Reina Sofía he participated in classes by Renata Scotto and Ileana Cotrubas.

After completing the Alfredo Kraus Master Class, directed by the legendary Spanish mezzo, Teresa Berganza and Manuel Cid, Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain herself awarded Jordi with the title Preeminent Student.

In 1998 he sang in leading zarzuela roles, Gustavo in Guerreros' Los Gavilanes in La Coruña and Jerez, while his debut in a lead opera role was Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Teatro Villamarta, Jerez, 2000, a role he later performed in Bern (2001), Strasbourg (2003) and Sevilla (2003). In December 2001 he made his debut with the Teatro Real de Madrid, as Ferrando in Mozart's Cosí fan tutte.

Among his critically and publicly acclaimed performances, it is worth mentioning Martha at the Wien Volksoper (2003), available on CD from the Volksoper, and his Nemorino to Mariella Devia's Adina in Elisir d'Amore in Sevilla, furthermore his Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Berliner Staatsoper (2003), La Traviata at the Villamarta, Jerez (2004) opposite Cristina Gallardo-Domas, this last performance available on CD from the Spanish National Broadcasting (RTVE).

After a period of tuition under the Argentinean tenor Daniel Muñoz, Ismael Jordi is currently studying with Maestro Angelo Capobianco in Italy.

For current and future engagements, please check Ismael Jordi's website or operbase.com.

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Ismael Jordi's agent:

Jose Velasco Management
Gran vía 62 3º planta izquierda oficina 3, 28013 Madrid
tlf: 0034 915 593 327
fax: 0034 915 480 280
jvelasco (at) velascointernational.com

Theaterargentur Luisa Petrov
Glauburgstrasse 95, 60318 Frankfurt am Main
tlf: 0049 695970377
fax: 0049 695974808
LuisaPetrov (at) web.de