Gaston Rivero

Gaston Rivero
Gaston Rivero as Manrico in Il trovatore
Born	(1978-02-06) 6 February 1978 Montevideo, Uruguay
Education	Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música Music Conservatory of Westchester Renata Scotto Opera Academy
Occupation	Operatic tenor
Website	www.gastonrivero.com

Gaston Rivero (born February 6, 1978) is an Uruguayan-US American operatic tenor from Argentina.

Rivero was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[1] He grew up in the Abasto district of the neighbourhood of Balvanera, in a musical family. His grandfather Ramón Olivera was a violinist at the Sodre Theater in Montevideo, Uruguay,^[2] and his father Carlos Rivero was a tenor at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.^[1] Rivero was interested in soccer as a teenager,^[1] and showed talent in singing at the age of 14.^[1] At age 19 he appeared in a concert with music by Jacques Offenbach at the Auditorio Del Pilar in Buenos Aires.^[3] He worked as an assistant in a law firm and studied in the evenings at the National Conservatory of Music Carlos Lopez Buchardo.^[1] After applying for a position in the Teatro Colón choir three times without success, he moved to New York with a stipend in 2001.^[1] He participated in numerous competitions (see Awards),^[4] winning stipends and monetary prizes that enabled him to continue his education in New York,^[1][4] where conductor Eugene Kohn became his teacher and mentor.^[4] He studied at the Music Conservatory of Westchester community music school^[5] and the Renata Scotto Opera Academy in New York.^[6]

Rivero made his concert debut at Carnegie Hall in December 2002,^[7] and joined the cast of Baz Luhrmann's production of La bohème on Broadway^[8] as understudy for the role of Rodolfo in the same year,^[2] resulting in his Broadway theatre debut in 2003.^[9] Rivero's opera debut followed in 2004 in La Gioconda with the Opera Orchestra of New York under Eve Queler.^[10] He made his European debut in 2005, performing the role of B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Staatstheater Nürnberg.^[1] In 2020 Rivero appeared in an abbridged version of Il trovatore at the Leipzig Opera, wich was performed without a live audience and live streamed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11] From 2021 till 2024 Rivero was a lecturer in the summer program Lotte Lehmann Akademie in Perleberg, Germany.^[8]

• Vittorio Gnecchi: Cassandra on Cassandra/Elektra (Germany 2010; staging Kirsten Harms, video director: Andreas Bolle) With Gaston Rivero as Agamemnone, recorded at Deutsche Oper Berlin.
• Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana on Cavalleria rusticana/I pagliacci (Uruguay 2011; staging Willy Landin) With Chiara Angella, Gaston Rivero, Raquel Pierotti, Dario Sanguinetti, Kaycobé Gómez. Conductor: Carlos Vieu.
• Giuseppe Verdi: Il trovatore (Germany, 2013; staging Philipp Stölzl, video director Tiziano Mancini) With Anna Netrebko as Leonora, Marina Prudenskaya as Azucena, Gaston Rivero as Manrico, Plácido Domingo as Conte di Luna, Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Deutsche Grammophon, Unitel Classica.

• Various: Gaston Rivero Tenor.^[17] One Soul Records 2003 (self-published)^[18][1]

• 2000: Competition of the Asociación de Periodistas de la Televisión y Radiofonía Argentina (APTRA) – Best tenor^[2]
• 2002: Classical Productions Competition Carnegie Hall – 1st prize^[10]
• 2003:
  • Ibla Bellini Competition – Most promising young tenor^[19]
  • Dicapo Opera Competition – Winner
  • Opera Index Vocal Competition, NYC 2003 – Winner^[20]
• 2004:
  • New Jersey Alliance for the performing Arts^[6]
  • Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, Palm Beach Florida – 7th place^[21]
  • Altamura/Caruso International Voice Competition NYC – 2nd place^[6]
  • Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation – 1st place^[6]
• 2003: Opera Index Vocal Competition, NYC 2005 – Winner
• 2005:
  • BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition – Finalist^[22]
  • The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation – Grant Winner ^[23]
• 2006:
  • The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation – Grant Winner ^[24]
  • Operalia – Finalist^[25]
  • Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition – 1st prize^[26]
  • Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition – 1st prize^[27]
  • Metropolitan Opera National Audition Eastern Region 2006 & 2007 – 1st place^[25]
• 2007:
  • Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballé – 3rd Place^[28]
  • Tobin Endowment for the Mrs. Edgar Tobin Award
  • Vidda Recital Award of the Opera Orchestra of New York^[29]
• 2008:
  • George London Foundation Competition, NYC – Encouragement Award^[30]
  • Concours International d'Opéra de Marseille – Finalist
  • Concurs Internacional de Cant Francesc Viñas – Finalist^[25]
  • Gerda Lissner Foundation – 1st place
  • The American Berlin Opera Foundation – Dixy Drechsler scholarship^[31]
• 2009: International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition – 2nd price opera^[32]

• Gaston Rivero at Operabase
• Gaston Rivero at IMDb