Biography

One of today’s foremost Bel Canto tenors, acclaimed on the world’s leading operatic stages.

Santiago Ballerini is an Argentinian-Italian tenor recognized as one of today’s leading interpreters of the Bel Canto repertoire. With more than seventeen years of professional experience as a singer, following nine years as a pianist, Ballerini has developed an individual artistic identity rooted in the great Latin American tradition of lirico-leggero singing while bringing the elegance, vocal technique and expressive freedom of old-school Bel Canto into a contemporary and compelling theatrical language. His performances are distinguished by a highly musical approach, a distinctive vocal personality and a strong commitment to the dramatic truth of every role.

Ballerini’s career has taken him across some of the most prestigious opera houses and concert venues in the Americas and Europe, including the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the Arena di Verona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Ópera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, the Opéra de Marseille, Pacific Symphony, The Atlanta Opera, and Cincinnati Opera, among many others. His European career began at the Opéra National de Bordeaux as Gualtiero in Bellini’s Il pirata, followed by appearances at Teatro Regio di Torino, Opéra de Toulon, Opéra Comique in Paris and other major European stages. In North America, his work has included performances with the Canadian Opera Company, The Atlanta Opera, Cincinnati Opera and Pacific Symphony, as well as appearances at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda.

The 2026/27 season continues Ballerini’s international trajectory with a series of important engagements. Starting with his operatic role debut number 44 as Mozart’s Idomeneo in Toplice, Croatia, followed by Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi with the Bratislava Philharmonic Orchestra. For the first time, Ballerini will give a concert for the Kings of Spain at the Princess of Asturias Awards, accompanied by the OSPA in Oviedo, Spain. The Two Figaros will continue on the road, first in Bilbao, Spain, with performances in November, and later at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Italy, with performances in December. In January and February 2027, he will perform in Los Gavilanes at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, while also recording an album with the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid featuring the zarzuela El orgullo de quererte.

One of today’s foremost Bel Canto tenors, acclaimed on the world’s leading operatic stages.

The previous seasons have further strengthened Ballerini’s presence on major international stages. During the 2024/25 season, he made important debuts at venues including the Wiener Konzerthaus, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville and Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo. He also returned to The Atlanta Opera as Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, performed Mozart’s Coronation Mass at the commemorative concert for the 500th anniversary of Granada Cathedral, and made his debut at the Spoleto Festival in Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian.

In the 2025/26 season, Ballerini made his debut at the Royal Danish Opera as Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and appeared at the Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo in Il furioso nell’isola di Santo Domingo. He also returned to the role of Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for his debut at the Opéra de Marseille, and performed the concert version of Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada under Lucas Macías at the Auditorio Manuel de Falla in Granada and the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville. The season also included his return to the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff and the leading role in Javier Carmena’s contemporary zarzuela El orgullo de quererte, in a new production by Albert Boadella and under the musical direction of Alondra de la Parra, at the Teatros del Canal in Madrid.

Among his main roles are Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Don Narciso (Il turco in Italia), Lindoro (L’italiana in Algeri), Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier), Jünge Graf (Die Soldaten), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Tonio (La fille du régiment), Gualtiero (Il pirata), Argiro (Tancredi), Fenton (Falstaff), Prometheus (Prometeo by Luigi Nono), Arbace (Idomeneo), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Lord Percy (Anna Bolena), Gennaro (Lucrezia Borgia), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), Jaquino (Fidelio), and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte).

Beyond the stage, Ballerini holds a university degree in Music Therapy from the University of Buenos Aires, together with a Master’s degree specializing in Addiction Studies. His academic and clinical background, combined with his early career as a pianist, has contributed to the depth of his musical understanding and to the particular sensitivity, discipline and human perspective that he brings to his work as an opera singer.

A wide-ranging operatic repertoire developed across major international opera houses and concert venues.

  • Albeniz, Alzaga, the Magic Opal
  • Beethoven, Jacquino, Fidelio.
  • Bellini, Gualtiero, Il Pirata
  • Bellini, Elvino, Sonnambula
  • Bellini, Tebaldo, I Capuleti e i Montecchi.
  • Bizet, Nadir, Les Pecheurs de Perles
  • Carolina Uccelli, Anna di Resburgo, Edemondo
  • Carmena, Tadeo, El Orgullo de querert
  • Donizetti, Lord Perci, Anna Bolena.
  • Donizetti, Gennaro, Lucrezia Borgia.
  • Donizetti, Ernesto, Don Pasquale
  • Donizetti, Nemorino, l’elisir d’amor.
  • Donizetti, Fernando, La Favorita. (fr)
  • Donizetti, Tonio, La Fille du Regiment
  • Donizetti, Poliuto, Poliuto
  • Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, Edgardo
  • Donizetti, Fernando, Il furioso nell’isola di S. Domingo
  • Gonoud, Romeo, Romeo et Juliette.
  • Gonoud, Rodolphe, La nonne Sanglante
  • Lehár, Danilowitsch, Die lustigue Witwe
  • Luigi Nono, Prometeo, Prometeo.
  • Mozart, Ferrando, Cosi Fan Tutte.
  • Mozart, Ferrando, Cosi Fan Tutte.
  • Mozart, Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni.
  • Mozart, Belfiore, La Finta Giardiniera
  • Mozart, Tamino, Die zauberflöte.
  • Mozart, Arbace, Idomeneo.
  • Mozart, Belmonte, Die Enführung aus dem Serrail.
  • Paisiello, conte Almaviva, il Barbiere di Siviglia.
  • Puccini, Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi.
  • Puccini, Prunier, La Rondine
  • Rossini, Lindoro, L’italiana in Algeri.
  • Rossini, Almaviva, Barbiere di Siviglia
  • Rossini, Pricipe Ramiro, Cenerentola
  • Rossini, Argirio, Tancredi
  • Rossini, Il Turco in Italia, Narciso
  • Strauss, Alfred, Die fledermaus.
  • Strauss, Italianishen Tenor, Der Rosenkavalier
  • Strauss, Italianishen Tenor, Capriccio
  • Verdi, Alfredo, Traviata.
  • Verdi, Ducca, Rigoletto
  • Verdi, Falstaff, Fenton
  • Vives, Fernando, Doña Francisquita.
  • Wainwright, Rufus, Hadrian, Antinoos
  • Zimmerman, Jünge graf, Die soldaten

Extensive concert repertoire in symphonic and sacred works.

  • Bach, St. John Passion. Tenor solo
  • Bach, Missa B-minor. Tenor solo
  • Beethoven, 9na, symphony.
  • Dvorak, Stabat Mater.
  • Estevez, Cantata Criolla
  • Händel, Messiah
  • Haydn, Theresienmesse, missa B-flat.
  • Mozart, Requiem.
  • Mozart, coronation Mass in C major, K317
  • Mozart, Arbace, Idomeneo.
  • Rossini, Petit messe Solennelle.
  • Rossini, Stabat Mater.
  • Ramirez, Ariel, Misa criolla.
  • Puccini, Stabat Mater