About Juan Sancho
One of the most sought-after tenors on the international opera stage
Juan Sancho is an international tenor whose career has grown from a deep engagement with historically informed performance into a wide-ranging presence on today’s opera and concert stages. His work is grounded in the study of original sources and in a technical practice shaped by style, language and dramatic intention, allowing each repertoire to develop its own vocal colour and expressive character.
Initially devoted in particular to Baroque opera and oratorio, he has progressively expanded his repertoire to include Classical, Romantic and contemporary works, approaching each period with the same attention to musical rhetoric, textual clarity and theatrical truth. For Juan Sancho, singing is not only a vocal discipline but an act of living musical theatre, where sound, word and gesture converge in the service of expression.
Formation &
early career
1999-1999
Born in Seville, Juan Sancho began his musical training as a pianist, studying with María Floristán before turning to singing. He later trained with Lambert Climent and Montserrat Figueras at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona, where his artistic direction became closely aligned with the principles of historically informed performance.
Early in his career, he collaborated with legendary conductors such as Michel Corboz, William Christie, Gustav Leonhardt and Alan Curtis. He has since worked with many of today’s leading specialists, including Marc Minkowski, Andrea Marcon, Ivor Bolton, Václav Luks, George Petrou, Jan Tomasz Adamus and Emiliano González-Toro, among others.
Handel &
Core Repertoire
Handel’s operatic repertoire forms a central thread in Juan Sancho’s artistic journey, with particularly significant interpretations of Bajazet (Tamerlano) and Grimoaldo (Rodelinda), roles that have marked important milestones in his career. He has also appeared as Oronte (Alcina), Lurcanio (Ariodante), Sesto (Giulio Cesare) and Andronico (Tamerlano), among many others.
Beyond Handel, his work embraces Monteverdi and Bach — from early opera to the great sacred masterpieces — while extending into Classical, Romantic and contemporary repertoire, always approached with the same stylistic awareness and theatrical clarity.
Major Opera Houses & Concert Venues
Juan Sancho has appeared at many of the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls, including Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Real in Madrid, La Fenice in Venice, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, English National Opera in London, Theater an der Wien in Vienna and Opernhaus Zürich.
His international engagements have also brought him to venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Lincoln Center in New York, Opéra Comique and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Barbican Centre in London, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Oper Köln, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and the Palau de la Música in Valencia, among others.
He has likewise appeared at major European festivals including the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Festival d’Ambronay, the Granada Festival, the Quincena Musical de San Sebastián, Festival van Vlaanderen – Antwerpen (Laus Polyphoniae), and the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht.
Recordings
Juan Sancho’s operatic discography includes a number of landmark productions for leading labels. Among them are Catone in Utica by Leonardo Vinci (title role, DECCA), Germanico in Germania by Pergolesi (DECCA), Arminio and Alessandro by Handel (DECCA), and Siroe, re di Persia by Hasse (DECCA). He also appears in Artaserse by Leonardo Vinci (ERATO, DVD), Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse as Telemaco (Château de Versailles), L’Orfeo (Naïve), and in the Monteverdi opera trilogy recorded live from Teatro Real with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants (DYNAMICS and VIRGIN). His discography further includes Virtù di strali d’Amore by Cavalli under the direction of Fabio Biondi (NAXOS), among others.
Alongside these operatic productions, he has released more personal projects such as The Seven Deadly Sins, devoted to Handel (Enchiriadis), and Human Love, Love Divine, also centred on Handel, recorded in duo with soprano Nuria Rial (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi).
Current &
upcoming
projects
2026-2027
Upcoming engagements include Handel’s Tamerlano at the Musikverein in Vienna, Cavalli’s La Calisto at Theater an der Wien, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at Teatro Real in Madrid, Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Capitole de Toulouse, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre.