About César

Tenor César Andrés Parreño is a native from Manabí, Ecuador. In early 2020, Parreño made his Peter Jay Sharp Theater soloist debut in NYFOS@Juilliard, and has performed in two other NYFOS concerts since. In 2021, Parreño made his Juilliard Orchestra soloist debut on Stravinsky’s Pulcinella conducted by Barbara Hannigan. Last season at Juilliard, Parreño starred as “Tom Rakewell” in The Rake’s Progress and sung “Momo” in Luigi Rossi’s L’Orfeo with Juilliard 415. In 2022, Parreño became an alumni of the Schwab Vocal Rising Stars program, a week long residency at Caramoor focused on song repertoire, concluding with a concert at Merkin Hall, in New York City.

In the summer, as a Gerdine Young Artist, Parreño made his debut with Opera Theater of Saint Louis as “Le Remendado” in Bizet’s Carmen and later that portraying “Dr. Caius” in Verdi’s Falstaff with Aspen Music Festival with Bryn Tefel as the title role. While at Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Parreño stepped into the role of “Dan White” in the world premiere of Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk: Reimagined for 5 out of 6 performances. He also received the Elihu Hyndman Memorial Award from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In February 2023, César became an inaugural winner of the Duncan Williams Voice Competition in the Emerging Artist division.

This spring at Juilliard, Parreño will debut as “Rinuccio” in Gianni Schicchi, under the baton of Daniela Candillari.

This coming summer season, Parreño will return to Opera theater of Saint Louis with the role of “Elder Hayes” in Susannah and then to Aspen as a Renée Fleming fellow. In Aspen, Parreño will perform as “Gen Watanabe” in Jimmy Lopez’ Bel Canto and also as “Gran Sacerdote di Nettuno” in Idomeneo, with Matthew Polenzani as the title role.

César Andrés Parreño is a proud Kovner Fellow in Darrell Babidge’s studio at Juilliard, where he is the first Ecuadorian to ever attend the institution.