Biography
Mr. Arcila has earned an outstanding reputation in Venezuela as a powerful singing actor with a special affinity for the basso buffo repertory. Some of his characteristic roles include: Don Pasquale, Dulcamara, Leporello, Don Alfonso, Don Bartolo, Benoit and Alcindoro, and il Sagrestano in Tosca. Other roles performed are: Ferrando in Il Trovatore, Ramfis, Raimondo, and Timur. The symphonic platform has also been very important to him, and he has appeared with the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra in works such as Vicente Emilio Sojo’s Misa Cromática , Fauré’s Réquiem, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Guillaume de Flavy in Honneguer ‘s Jeanne D’Arc au Bûcher Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, the Magnificat and the first Venezuelan performance of Duruflé’s Réquiem.
He studied at the José Angel Lamas Music Conservatory in Caracas, the Caracas Permanent Opera Workshop and the Teatro Teresa Carreño's Opera Training Center, simultaneously with his linguistic training at the Central University of Venezuela. After completing his studies in Modern Languages with a major in Translation he was invited to join the Faculty of the prestigious IUDEM (University Institute of Musical Studies) and the José Angel Lamas Music Conservatory in Caracas as Professor of Diction and Style. It was during these years that he acquired substantial knowledge in the field and developed a keen understanding of different styles and acting techniques. Mr. Arcila has worked with conductors such as Carlos Riazuelo, Theo Alcántara, Patrón de Rueda, Raúl Domínguez, Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Alfredo Rugeles, Stewart Robertson, Richard Buckley, and Pablo Castellanos. Singing lieder has been a substantial part of his work: Mr. Arcila is an accomplished recitalist. Recent appearances have included performances as the title roles in in Nozze di Figaro, Don Pasquale, and Gianni Schicch, as well as his New York recital debut at the Weil Hall. In 2004 Mr. Arcila made his operatic debut in New York in the title role of Don Pasquale. Mr. Arcila appeared this year with New Jersey State Repertory Opera in the role of Dulcamara, a role he will reprise in Europe and South America over the next months. Future projects will feature him as Bartolo in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Sulpice in The Daughter of the Regiment by Donizetti.