Betty Garcés

Singers


“The two concerts we saw with Colombian musicians were just as remarkable. April 7th Opera Gala, Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, led by the Swedish conductor Joachim Gustafsson, in arias and excerpts from French operas. The extraordinary voice of soprano Betty Garcés surprised and moved us: what brightness, what color, what power!(Hérodiade, Louise). Festival Música Clásica de Bogotá, Belle Époque, April 2023” ConcertoNet por Santiago Martín Bermúdez

Biography

The extraordinary Soprano Betty Garcés is the first Afro-Colombian who enjoys a growing international career as a lyric singer specialized in Lied, concert repertory, chamber music and opera. Ms. Garcés has traveled through the five continents sharing her deep musical curiosity, performing in opera productions, symphonic concerts as well as recitals.

Honored in 2021 with the high Artistic recognition for Cultural Merit from the Colombian President and the Ministry of Culture. She is one of the Forbes Creative 2020 and currently she received the RWLE Möller Stiftung Special Emerging Artist Residence Scholarship in Germany.

Betty Garcés has appeared as soloist with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra led by Alfonso Scarano, the Gulbenkian Orchestra led by Rui Pinheiro, the Bogotá Philharmonic at the Festival Belle Époque led by Joachim Gustafsson, the Simón Bolívar Orchestra with Diego Matheuz, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia with conductors David Effron, Olivier Grangean, Hillary Griffiths, Alejandro Roca y Claudio Cruz, as well as the Bogotá Philarmonic under the baton of conductor Leonardo Marulanda and Ligia Amadio.

In 2023 Ms. Garcés made her debut as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Opera de Colombia led by conductor Josep Caballé Domench and directed by Joan Anton Rechi. Other roles include Liu in Turandot, the title role in Suor Angelica, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Leonora in La forza del destino, Elizabeth in Don Carlo, the title role of Aida, Cassandra in Les Troyens, Chimène in Le Cid, among other roles.

Betty Garcés began her education at the Antonio Maria Valencia Conservatory in Cali where she graduated with distinction, and studied with Ivonne Giraldo. Thanks to the support of her tutor the Colombian singer Francisco Vergara, the previous minister of culture Mariana Garcés Cordoba, and a group of friends and institutions of the city of Cali, she continued her studies of improvement in Cologne, where she also obtained with honors the title of Master of Arts, of the Superior School of Music of Cologne, with specialization in Opera, Lied and Dramatic Arts, with Professor Klesie Kelly Moog. She was also member of the Solo Klasse - Konzertexamen program of the Superior School of Music, Theater and Media of Hannover, where she specialized in Oratorio and Concert under the direction of Professor Gudrun Pelker. She participated in Masterclasses with Anja Harteros and Cheryl Studer and continued her improvement in New York, under the direction of Professor, pianist and Coach Gerald Martin Moore, recognized for his work with great singers such as Renee Fleming and Sarah Connolly. 2020 she was welcomed as a member from Opera for Peace as Emerging Artist where she continued to perfect her singing and artistically, under the direction of Kamal Khan, Denisse Graves, Brian Jagde, Daniele Rustioni and Thomas Hampson. Recent seasson include Ariadne from Ariadne auf Naxos in Teatro Colón de Bogotá, and was soloist at the Festival Belle Époque at the Teatro Mayor.

Betty is considered by many as Ambassador of hope. Her story is full of events, anecdotes and valuable experiences wich she wants to share specially with people in disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions, hoping it can help generations, their public and also young artists being filled with inspiration, hope, strength, worth and the certainty that it is possible to move forward and achieve dreams in spite of the adverse conditions.


  • Betty Garcés
  • Betty Garcés
  • Betty Garcés