Dr. Alfonso Ortiz Tirado 2008 Medal

CJosé Francisco Araiza, born in Mexico City, October 4, 1950, commenced his study of organ at Mexico's National Conservatory of Music in 1966. Although his interest was not in vocal music, he joined the chorus. His father, a tenor, directed the Opera Chorus of Mexico. 

Araiza's teachers soon recognized he possessed an exceptional voice.  Under the tutelage of Irma González and Erika Kubacsek, he developed as a lyric tenor, and in 1970 made his debut at Bellas Artes as Jaquino in Beethoven's Fidelio.  His first important solo was in Haydn's Creation, 1973.  He also obtained a degree in Business Administration at the Universidad Autónoma de México, UNAM.

In 1974 he won third place in the Bavarian Broadcasting Voice Competition of Munich.  The panel of judges offered him the opportunity to audition for the Karlsruhe Opera; Araiza secured a three year contract.   He triumphed as Tamino in La Flauta Mágica; and Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte.  At the same time, he continued to study music with Eric Werba and Richard Holm.

Legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan took an interest in Araiza's career, selecting him in 1979 for his new recording of The Magic Flute, and for the 1980 debut at the Festival of Salzburg.  Two years later he was introduced at New York's Metropolitan Opera, singing the role of Belmonte in El Rapto en el Serrallo.

Araiza quickly became known worldwide for his interpretations of Mozart and Rossini.  He explored the lyric tenor repertory of Italian and French opera, German songs, and operetta, venturing into parts with different vocal demands, notably Álvaro in La Forza del Destino (Verdi), Cavaradossi from Tosca (Puccini), Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville (Rossini), Fausto (Gounod), and Lohengrin (Wagner). A favorite with the German-speaking public, Araiza has made fifty recordings in six languages.  

Araiza has sung under the direction of conductors Karajan, Levine, Abado, Böhm and Sir Colin Davis; in La Scala in Milán, the Metropolitan in New York, La Fenice in Venice and Covent Garden in London.

Araiza has won the Orphée d'Or, UNAM's Mozart Medallion, the German Prize for Sound-Recording, and the coveted title of Kammersänger of the Opera of Vienna.

Since 1998, Araiza has sponsored a singing competition that carries his name, celebrated annually in Mexico's National Conservatory of Music.  He gives masters classes to young opera students in Germany.

Saturday, January 26, 2008
Presentation of the Medalla Dr. Alfonso Ortiz Tirado to tenor Francisco Araiza.
Concert with tenor Francisco Araiza and pianist Rogelio Riojas-Nolasco.
Municipal Palace of Álamos, Sonora
6:30 P.M.