About
Josep Maria Carreras Coll, better known as José Carreras, is a Spanish operatic tenor who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini.
Born in Barcelona, he made his debut on the operatic stage at 11 as Trujamán in Manuel de Falla's El retablo de Maese Pedro, and went on to a career that encompassed over 60 roles, performing in the world's leading opera houses and on numerous recordings. He gained fame with a wider audience as one of the Three Tenors, with Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, in a series of large concerts from 1990 to 2003. He is also known for his humanitarian work as president of the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation (La Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia), which he established following his own recovery from the disease in 1988.
Carreras has received numerous awards and distinctions for both his artistic and humanitarian work. These include: Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant of Thailand (2019); Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (France); Knight Grand Cross and Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (20 May 1996 and 3 April 1991, respectively); Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (1999); the Cruz de Oro del Orden Civil de la Solidaridad Social from Queen Sofia of Spain, the Prince of Asturias Prize for Art (joint winner, 1991), the Grand Cross of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany and the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (June 1984)
Carreras has received the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Steiger Award (2006) and the St. George Order of the Semperoper (Dresden, 2010)
Honorary Medal of the city of Leipzig on the occasion of his Leukemia Fundraiser for 2009 on 17 December 2009; awarded by the Mayor of Leipzig (unanimous decision of the town council of Leipzig).
On 23 February 2004, the Austrian Post Office issued a 1€ stamp to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his debut at the Vienna Staatsoper.
In 2004, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
In 2009, he received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
He has Honorary Doctorates from the University of Barcelona and Miguel Hernández University (Spain); Napier, Loughborough and Sheffield universities (United Kingdom); the Mendeleev Russian University of Chemistry and Technology (Russia); the University of Camerino (Italy); Rutgers University (United States); the University of Coimbra (Portugal); the National University of Music Bucharest (Romania); Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany, 3 May 2006); University of Saarland (2012); the University of Pécs (Hungary) and most recently, Kyunghee University (Korea) and the University of Porto (Portugal).
In Spain the central plaza in Sant Joan d'Alacant bears his name, as do two theatres – the Auditori Josep Carreras in Vila-seca (near Tarragona) and The Teatro Josep Carreras in Fuenlabrada.