Betty Garcés

The extraordinary soprano Betty Garcés Bedoya, based in Europe, is currently considered one of the most prominent Colombian sopranos. Born in Buenaventura, on the shores of the Colombian Pacific, she is the first Afro-Colombian to develop a growing career as a lyric soprano specializing in Lied, symphonic repertoire, chamber music, and opera internationally. Betty is part of the Opera for Peace Collective Movement. 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 performed in opera productions, concerts, and recitals at venues such as Parco della Musica in Rome, Teatro Real in Madrid, Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Prince Mahidol Hall in Bangkok, Kennedy Center,Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Sala Luis Angel Arango, and Teatro Colón in Bogotá in Colombia, Melba Hall in Melbourne, the iconic Churches of Saint Eustache in Paris, and Saint Patrick's in New York. In 2024, Betty Garcés sings Beethoven´s 9th Symphony with the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, the Verdi Requiem with the Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony of Colombia, she travels to Mexico to sing The Four Last Songs by Strauss with OFUNAM in Mexico City and Morelia Festival. In 2023 sang The Four Last Songs by Strauss with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia and she offered her new recital "Nanas y Habaneras" a wonderful program of lullabies and habaneras from Latin America and Spain, which was premiered at the Fundación March in Madrid, with the Ferrol Philharmonic Society in Spain. With extensive musical training, Betty Garcés obtained a degree in Music from Conservatory in Cali. She later traveled to continue her a studies in Cologne, where she graduated a Master's degree in Arts from the Cologne University of Music, specializing in opera and Lied, and also focused on oratorio, symphonic repertoire, and chamber music. Betty Garcés has participated in opera productions, concerts, and numerous recitals in over 20 countries around the world. She has performed as a soloist with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, and Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra. Her operatic repertoire includes roles such as Suor Angelica, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, and Leonora in La forza del destino. She has also interpreted roles like Mimi in La Bohème and Liú in Turandot. In Colombia, she debuted successfully as the lead role in the zarzuela "Cecilia Valdés" at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá. Last season, she performed the role of Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos under the musical direction of Josep Caballé Domenech and stage direction of Joan Anton Rechi. She was also invited to perform at the prestigious Bogotá Music Festival, where she sang in the "Opera Gala", in addition to two French music recitals. During the 2016, she was a soloist in the world premiere of the Multimedia Opera "3 Mil Rios" by composer Victor Gama, accompanied by the Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon. Betty Garcés is an exquisite and passionate interpreter of song repertoire, regularly giving recitals at major venues. Her repertoire includes works by composers such as Strauss, Korngold, Berg, Schoenberg, Mahler, , Chausson, Honneger, Boulanger, Britten, Ginastera, de Falla, Montsalvatge, Rachmaninov.