Placido Domingo to be Honored as the 2010 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year

Three-time Latin GRAMMY winner, nine-time GRAMMY winner, and internationally renowned tenor Placido Domingo will be honored as the 2010 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, it was announced today by The Latin Recording Academy. Domingo, chosen for his philanthropic and professional accomplishments, will receive the honor at a star-studded concert and tribute dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The concert will feature many of Domingo”’s friends performing some of his pop duets as well as some of his favorite music, and a portion of the proceeds from the gala will benefit one of Domingo”’s chosen charities as well as The Latin Recording Academy”’s outreach and educational programs. The prestigious event will precede the 11th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and will be broadcast live on the Univision Network on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. For breaking news and exclusive content, join the organization”’s social networks as a Twitter follower at www.twitter.com/latingrammys, and a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/latingrammys.
 
“The Latin Recording Academy and its Board of Trustees take great pride in honoring Placido Domingo as an extraordinary musician, philanthropist and, above all, a great human being whose immense talent and generosity has had a profound global impact,” said Gabriel Abaroa, President/CEO of The Latin Recording Academy. “We are privileged to pay tribute to one of the most respected musical voices of our time, as well as a man whose selflessness has benefited many around the world.”
   
Placido Domingo is fittingly described as “the king of opera,” “a true renaissance man,” and “the greatest operatic artist of modern times.” Born in Spain to a family of operatic performers and later relocating to Mexico at the age of 8, Domingo”’s musical abilities were quickly nurtured as he attended the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City where he initially studied piano and conducting. His official debut in 1968 as a vocalist at The Metropolitan Opera House in New York quickly elevated his career – solidifying him as a tour de force in the world of opera. Since then he has opened the season at The Met 21 times, surpassing the record previously held by Enrico Caruso. Domingo began conducting opera in 1973, and in 1981 he gained considerable recognition outside of the opera world when he recorded the song “Perhaps Love” as a duet with John Denver. Since the beginning of his opera career, he has added more than 40 new roles to his expansive repertoire and has covered opera in six different languages (English, Italian, French, German, Russian and Spanish). He appears regularly at all the big opera houses of the world, including Milan”’s La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, London”’s Covent Garden, Paris”’ Bastille Opera, the San Francisco Opera, Chicago”’s Lyric Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and the Real in Madrid, and currently he is the General Director of the Washington National Opera and the Los Angeles Opera as well as the Artistic Advisor for the Youth Orchestra of the Americas.

Ever the philanthropist, Domingo founded Operalia, an annual international voice competition designed to nurture and support the careers of opera”’s future standard-bearers. He has raised millions of dollars through benefit concerts for the victims of such disasters as Mexico City”’s devastating 1985 earthquake, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and the floods caused by Hurricane Paulina in Mexico. In Lerma, Mexico, he helped found a hospital that has given aid to thousands of people. Domingo also has participated in many concerts, including the now legendary Three Tenors concert with Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti, which have benefited a range of causes and goodwill efforts. In addition, Domingo has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the United States as well as the titles of Commandant of the Legion of Honor in France, Honorary Knight of the British Empire, and both Grande Ufficiale and Cavaliere di Gran Croce of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. He also has received honorary doctorates from Oxford University and New York University for his lifelong commitment and contribution to music and the arts. For more information on Placido Domingo, please visit www.placidodomingo.com.

Placido Domingo will have the distinction of becoming the 11th Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honoree and the first in the next decade of The Latin Academy’s continued evolution. He joins a list of artists that includes Gloria Estefan, Juan Gabriel, Gilberto Gil, Juan Luis Guerra, Julio Iglesias, and Carlos Santana, among others.