David Lomelí caught the opera’s world attention in 2006 when he won the top prize in Plácido Domingo’s prestigious Operalia competition – in both the opera and zarzuela categories. He was the first artist to win both. Since then, the rich-voiced young Mexican tenor has built a growing reputation in opera houses and concert halls across North America and Europe.

            During the 2010-11 season, Lomelí will sing debut performances with Deutsche Oper (Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata), New York City Opera (Nemorino in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love), Santa Fe Opera (Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème), Opéra de Lille (MacDuff in Verdi’s Macbeth) and as Edgardo in the Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Donizetti’s Lucia de Lammermoor. Over the next few seasons, Lomeli will sing at San Francisco Opera, Glyndebourne, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company and Oper Frankfurt.

            A graduate of both the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship and Merola Opera Program, Lomelí made his San Francisco Opera debut in the 2008-2009 Season as Alfredo in La Traviata. He has also appeared with the Companyas Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Harry in La Fanciulla del West in addition to The Messenger in this season’s production of Verdi’s Aida.   “David Lomelí melted hearts with La donna e mobile,” wrote San Francisco Classical Voice critic Janos Gereben, reviewing the tenor’s performance at the San Francisco Opera’s Opera in the Park this past September, when Lomelí shared the stage with stars such as mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick and tenor Marcello Giordani.  
Among Lomelí’s most important concert engagements were performances of Verdi’s Requiem with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and with the Berlin Philharmonic under Maestro Mariss Jansons.  He had also sung in concert with the Oslo Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonic, Hamburg Symphony and the Munich Radio Orchestra.  As an operatic performer, he starred as Rodolfo at Theater Basel in Switzerland, played Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Michigan Opera Theater, and the title role in Gounod’s Faust at Madison Opera.  Placido Domingo tapped the young tenor for the Los Angeles Opera program after hearing him sing Che gelida manina from Bohème at his audition set up by the noted singer and voice teacher César Ulloa, with whom Lomelí studied in Mexico City.  During his tenure as a young artist with the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program in Los Angeles, Lomelí performed Rodolfo in La Bohème and appeared as  Javier in Federico Moreno Torroba’s zarzuela Luisa Fernanda.

            Born in the Mexican capital, Lomelí spent his adolescent years in the northern city of Monterrey, where his natural gift for singing developed under the tutelage of his mother, and his music teacher, Sandra Cisneros. She taught him solfege and led an ensemble in which he sang classical pieces.