BOWEN GUAN

Bowen Guan musical education began at the Shenyang Conservatory (2013-2017), followed by advanced studies in Italy at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory of Milan (2018-2021). He then pursued a PhD in Lyrical Singing at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Poland (2022-2025).

His professional experience includes the Accademia verdiana in Parma (2023) and various operatic roles: he performed as Marcello in La bohème at the Sarzana Festival and as Germont in La traviata with I Musici di Parma. He has also taken part in opera studios, where he interpreted significant roles such as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Macbeth, Silvio in Pagliacci, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana, and the title role in Rigoletto.

Among his awards, he won third prize at the “Città di Belluno” International Lyric Singing Competition (2024). He was also a finalist at the 13th “Salvatore Licitra” Lyric Competition (2023) and the 40th Valsesia Musica International Competition (2024), and reached the final round of the Hans Gabor Belvedere (2025).

The program opens with two arias of great impact for baritone. The first round is structured with arias from the French and Italian romantic periods, requiring an interpretation of both Donizetti’s drama and French elegance. In his aria “Cruda, funesta smania,” Duke Enrico Ashton expresses his rage and frustration at his sister Lucia’s refusal to marry a man who would improve the family’s financial fortunes. This is followed by Valentin, a soldier preparing to leave for war, who in “Avant de quitter ces lieux” expresses all his love for his sister Marguerite and his anguish at his departure, entrusting her to divine protection. The semifinal focuses on two complex roles: the first is the last, moving aria of the Marquis of Posa from Verdi’s Don Carlo, who dies to save his friend and king. The final piece, a tribute to the Spanish repertoire, features Romualdo, an idealistic doctor, who in “Amor, vida de mi vida” sings of his happiness and hope in a newfound love, after overcoming a debilitating illness.