CORO DE ÓPERA DE BILBAO

Founded in 1993 to take part in Bilbao’s opera season, the Bilbao Opera Chorus was first directed by Julio Lanuza. From the 1994–95 season until July 2025 it was led by Maestro Boris Dujin, after which Esteban Urzelai took over as Chorus Director from the 2025–2026 season.

The Chorus has sung alongside many of the great voices of the operatic stage and has worked under conductors such as Alberto Zedda, Friedrich Haider, Giuliano Carella, Antonello Allemandi, Günter Neuhold, Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Alain Guingal, Jiří Kout, Christophe Rousset, Juanjo Mena and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

It has appeared in more than 400 performances across over 75 titles—particularly 19th-century Italian repertoire (Verdi, Donizetti, Bellini, Puccini), as well as French (Gounod, Bizet, Saint-Saëns) and German opera (Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven). Notable highlights include Les Huguenots, Der Freischütz, Jenůfa, Zigor, Alcina, Götterdämmerung, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Fidelio and Idomeneo.

Given its deep commitment to ABAO Bilbao Opera, appearances outside the Bilbao opera season are carefully selected. Among them are a concert at Euskalduna Bilbao performing the music of Ennio Morricone under the composer’s baton; its 2007 appearance at the Quincena Musical with the Russian National Orchestra in a concert performance of Rachmaninov’s Aleko conducted by Mikhail Pletnev; and its recent participation in Calixto Bieito’s powerful staging of Bach’s St John Passion for the Teatro Arriaga.

In 2023 the Chorus received the Special Award at the Tutto Verdi International Awards for its three decades of commitment to ABAO Bilbao Opera—without whose presence and artistic excellence the Tutto Verdi project would not have been possible—and in particular for its outstanding performance of “Va, pensiero” from Nabucco at the 2022 Tutto Verdi Concert.

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Web: www.corodeoperadebilbao.org

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EN ABAO BILBAO OPERA