Daniel Bonilla Torres

DANIEL BONILLA TORRES was born in Puerto Rico, in Ponce. After studying theology and political science, he graduated from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music in bassoon, choir and orchestra conducting.

He completed his education at the Manhattan School of Music in New York where he followed classes of theater and opera production.
After debuting as an opera singer in 1971 in New Jersey, he was engaged to perform in New York, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico (Festival Casals). Since 1976 he has performed in Europe: as a member of the Zurich Opera and at the Stuttgarter Staatstheater he is regularly invited to perform at other theaters in the Federal Republic of Germany. He sings in Europe, Russia, Japan and Finland. Artistically eclectic, he is active, as a freelancer, not only as an opera singer and in concerts, but also participates as an actor in film productions. His performance as “El Duende” in Astor Piazzolla's opera “Maria de Buenos Aires” took him from Kiel (where he premiered this “Tango-Operita” in 1999 as a complete opera) to Italy, Japan , Greece, Russia, Estonia, Finland and Switzerland. In January 2016 he interreted “El Duende” in the version of “Maria de Buenos Aires“ produced by the Bonn Opera House, which would be revived in the 2016-17 season. In July 2016 he was invited for the third time at the International Festival of Musica da Kamera in Kuhmo (Finland), where he performed the “Operita” by Astor Piazzolla. Since then he has mainly dealt with this opera, directing it as well as being one of the interpreters: on the billboard of the the Halle Opera House in the 2017/18 season he obtained a great success, also personally, for his directing and interpreting, so much so that the opera was represented in the repertoire of the 2018/19 season. In 2018 he performed successfully in the same work, and with the same role of the “Duende”, also at the “Düsseldorf Osterfestival”, at the “Holland‘s Internazionale Stiftfestival”, Limoges Opera House and Venice Biennale, in 2019 at the Opera House in Lübeck, in 2021 at the International Stiftfestival in Holland, Festival Clásico de Bragança and Festival de Música Capuchos in Portugal as well as at the Ravenna Festival 2021.