After studying composition and conducting in his home town, Rosario, José Cura moved to Buenos Aires in 1984 to hone his skills. To gain insights into stage life, he worked in one of the professional choirs at the Teatro Coló n from 1984 to 1988, where his voice developed into the distinctive bold and bright tenor with tints of dark baritone that led him to international fame.

In 1999, José Cura resumed his conducting career, working with top orchestras like the London Philharmonia, the London Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Toscanini Orchestra, and the Hungarian Philharmonic, among others, performing operatic and symphonic works, thrilling audiences with his performances both in the pit and on stage.

2014 was marked by José Cura’s return to his activity as a composer: in November, the South Bohemian Opera premiered his Stabat Mater, written in 1989 and in Easter 2015, after his return as Don José at La Scala, the world premiere of his Magni-icat, written in 1988, took place at the Teatro Massimo di Catania.

From 2015 to 2018, José Cura was the “Artist in Residence” of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. As part of his commitments with the Czech ensemble, he conducted the premiere of his triptych Ecce Homo. In February 2019, José Cura was appointed the [irst “Principal Guest Artist” —singer, composer and conductor— in the history of the Hungarian Radio Art Groups. With them, on January 29th 2020, he conducted the world premiere of his Montezuma and the Red Priest, opera buffa ma non troppo, at the Liszt Academy. His Te Deum was successfully premiered with the London Philharmonia in September 2021 during the Enescu festival, and his Concierto para un Resurgir, for guitar and orchestra, was premiered in September 2021, in Saarbrü cken, together with his Symphonic Suite.

José Cura’s Requiem æternam, for triple choir, soloists and orchestra, has been premiered in Budapest the 9th of May 2022, with the MTVA art groups and the Hungarian National choir. In 2015, José Cura was honored by the Argentinean Senate, with the Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Prize for his achievements in education and culture and in 2017 he was entitled Professor Honoris Causa of the National University of Rosario, Argentina, where he followed his composer studies in the decade of 1980.