BIOGRAPHY
“Alfredo (Airam Hernández) have the timbre of the young Pavarotti, a diction that not even in Italy, and a soft voice of velvet…”
Franco Soda, Il Giornale della Musica
Airam Hernández has become one of the most valued tenors of his generation. The uniqueness of his timbre and his highly developed musicality has given him a place of honor in the opera world.
Season 2021/2022 will come plenty of houses and roles debuts including Opera de Oviedo for his long expected debut as Tamino in Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE; Teatro de La Maestranza of Sevilla where he will debut as Tebaldo in Bellini's I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI; Ópera de Tenerife singing the part of Arcadio in the Spanish premiere of Daniel Catán's FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS; and the world premiere of EL ABRECARTAS at Teatro Real de Madrid playing the iconic part of Federico Garcia Lorca. He will also reprise his critically acclaimed performances of Pollione in Bellini's NORMA at Gran Teatre del Liceu and Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA at Teatro Calderón de Valladolid.
Despite the world situation during season 2020/2021, Airam was able to debut as Ulysse in Fauré's PÉNÉLOPE at Theâtre du Capitole Toulouse and Don Ottavio in Mozart's DON GIOVANNI at Teatro Real de Madrid. He will also debuted as Cassio in Verdi's OTELLO at Gran Teatre del Liceu, and on the tenor parts of Rossini's STABAT MATER and Franck's SEVEN LAST WORDS OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS at Auditorio Nacional in Madrid.
He opened his season 2019/2020 succesfully debuting the role of Pollione in Bellini's NORMA at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, and reprising the role of Alfredo in Verdi's LA TRAVIATA at Teatro La Fenice of Venice.
Early in 2019 he sang the role of Enrico Caruso in the world premiere of CARUSO A CUBA at De Nationale Opera & Ballet of Amsterdam. His portrait of the mithycal Italian tenor in this opera was awarded with the SCHAUNARD AWARD 2019 for the Best Individual Performance of the Year in the Netherlands. That same year he also made his successful American debut at the Dallas Opera singing Fenton from Verdi's FALSTAFF.
In 2018 he went back to Opernhaus Zürich to debut as Arbace in Mozart's IDOMENEO, conducted by Maestro Giovanni Antonini. He also made his French debut in the opening of the season of Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse singing Alfredo from LA TRAVIATA in a magnificent new production directed by Pierre Rambert; he sang the title role in the world premiere on Franz Liszt recently recovered opera SARDANAPALO with the Staatskapelle Weimar, conducted by Kirill Karabits; and a tour of LA TRAVIATA that took him to Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, conducted by Maestro Teodor Currentzis.
In 2017 he successfully debuted the roles of Edgardo in LUCIA DE LAMMERMOOR at the Opéra de Lausanne, conducted by Maestro Jesús López Cobos, Faust in Gounod's FAUST at Ópera de Tenerife conducted by Maestro Francesco Ivan Ciampa, and the complex roles of Apollo and Dionysos at the Opernhaus Zürich's premiere of Manfred Trojahn's OREST.
“Airam Hernández as Edgardo, also an agile actor, whose virile presence was ideally balanced by the warmth and finesse of his singing (he was superb in the final scene) .”
Nicolas Blanmont, Opera (UK)
Airam has worked with prestigious conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Stéphane Denève, Marco Armiliato, Michael Boder, Cornelius Meister, Kirill Karabits, Markus Poschner, Alexander Anissimov, Sebastian Weigle, Ramón Tebar, Otto Tausk, Giovanni Antonini, Andrea Marcon, John Fiore, Omer Meir Wellber, Ivor Bolton, Jesús López Cobos, Giampaolo Bizanti, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Stefano Ranzani, Riccardo Frizza, Carlo Rizzi, James Conlon, Teodor Currentzis and Nello Santi, among others; and with directors like Barrie Kosky, Robert Wilson, Jürgen Flimm, David Pountney, Laurent Pélly, Johannes Erath, Anne Delbée, Uwe Eric Laufenberg, Peter Stein, Jean-Claude Auwray, Robert Carsen, Claus Guth, Gilbert Deflo, Lee Blakeley, Eric Bechtolf, Tatjana Gürbaca, Stefano Poda, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Andreas Homoki, Damiano Michieletto, among others.
Hernández received his initial musical training as a french horn player for twelve years in the Conservatory of Santa Cruz de Tenerife mentored by Maestro Guillermo Zarzo. Lately he finished his formal vocal studies with Maestra Dolors Aldea at Conservatori del Liceu of Barcelona. During his years of training he was given instruction by such illustrious singers and maestros as Vittorio Terranova, Dalton Baldwin, Lorraine Nubar, Dame Ann Murray, Fabio Luisi, Hedwig Fassbender, Eytan Pessen, Reinaldo Macías, Carlos Chausson, Dmitry Vdovin, Roger Vignoles, Laurent Naouri, Natalie Dessay and his current teacher, Maestra Mariella Devia.
Airam has had an outstanding participation in numerous vocal competitions, being a finalist at International Singing Competition “Francisco Viñas” in Barcelona and Semifinalist at Plácido Domingo's Operalia in Los Angeles. He also won First Prize and Higher Score Prize at International Singing Competition of Logroño and the Second Prize at International Singing Competition “Josep Mirabent i Magrans”, Sitges.
In 2008 he initiates a fruitful relationship with the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, where he has the chance to sing in several productions such as the Erster Gefangener in FIDELIO, Ein buckliger Spieler in Prokofiev’s THE GAMBLER, Venditore di canzonette in IL TABARRO and Nathanaël in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN.
In 2014 he obtained great reviews from critics and public after his interpretation of five different characters (Le Commissaire, Le Garde, Le Facteur, Le Mécanicien & Le Gardien) at Opernhaus Zürich's premiere of Martinu’s JULIETTE, conducted by Maestro Fabio Luisi. From season 2015-2016 highlight his participation in many productions of Opernhaus Zürich like FALSTAFF, alongside Bryn Terfel as the eponymous anti hero, LA TRAVIATA, DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER and MACBETH. That same season he is invited by Maestro Teodor Currentzis to debut the role of Alfredo in a new production of LA TRAVIATA at Perm Opera, directed by Robert Wilson.
Native of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, the young Spanish tenor is part of a family of musicians. In 2021 he was honored as Favorite Son of El Rosario, his hometown in Tenerife.