Bruno de Sá

Bruno de Sá, recognized as a male soprano, has taken the stage at prominent opera houses throughout Europe while securing a recording contract with Warner Classics. Awards have come to him from vocal competitions staged both on the continent and in his Brazilian homeland.

Born Bruno de Sá Nunes in the São Paulo suburb of Santo André on November 29, 1989, he grew up in a household where every member participated in church choirs. Singing began for him at age two; during family rehearsals the toddler would request placement on a chair so he could join in. Piano study commenced at seven, followed by a switch to flute that lasted through his university period. He also took up clarinet and joined children’s choirs, where his upper register surpassed those of the female participants. At home he delighted in the demanding Queen of the Night aria from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. His voice remained unchanged through adolescence, establishing him as a genuine male soprano; he prefers that term or sopranista over countertenor, noting that his timbre aligns neither with typical countertenors nor exactly with female sopranos, though it approaches the latter. While pursuing a degree in music education at a São Paulo university, he remained unaware that his distinctive voice could support a stage career until age twenty-two, when harpsichordist Nicolau de Figueiredo acquainted him with Baroque castrato roles and sparked his vocal training, which advanced swiftly thereafter.

Declaring himself prepared to perform whatever his voice permits regardless of a role’s gender, de Sá has declined to limit himself to Baroque works. Even while still in Brazil he sang music by an array of composers including Bach, Wagner, Scott Joplin, and John Adams. Relocating to Europe in the mid-2010s, he began circulating audition videos online; one reached countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, who expressed admiration for the young singer’s gifts and whom de Sá has named as a significant influence. Debuts arrived in 2016 with the Lübeck Choral Academy in Handel’s Messiah and Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle. The following season introduced him at the Teatro São Pedro in Porto Alegre and at theaters in Potsdam and Bayreuth. In 2019 he entered the Opera Studio at Theater Basel. Now based in Berlin, he has progressed to more prestigious stages such as the Theater an der Wien, the Drottningholm Palace Theater, and the Salzburg Festival in 2020–2021, tackling both castrato parts and female roles. Recipient of the 2020 Oper! Award for best young artist, he appeared that year on a Harmonia Mundi recording of Giovanni Battista Bononcini’s Polifemo. His first album for Warner Classics, Roma Travestita, followed in 2022.