The first countertenor to join the Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris, Fernando Escalona made his debut on the stage of the Palais Garnier in 2020 as the Second Aunt in Yvonne, Princesse de Bourgogne by Philippe Boesmans. In March 2022, he was awarded the Prix lyrique de l’AROP (Association pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra de Paris).

He has also performed the role of Nerone (L’Incoronazione di Poppea) at the Opéra de Dijon and the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris, and later Arnalta in the same opera at the Teatro Julio Santo Domingo in Bogotá (Colombia). He appeared as Spirit (Dido and Aeneas) at the Festival d’Utrecht, La Seine Musicale in Paris, and on tour, always with Le Poème Harmonique under the direction of Vincent Dumestre. Other notable engagements include Licida (L’Olimpiade by Vivaldi) at the Opéra de Nice under Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Achille (L’Orfeo by Sartorio) under the direction of Philippe Jaroussky, La Morte (Il Trionfo della Morte by Aliotti) with Les Traversées Baroques, and Le Loup (La petite fille, le loup et le chasseur by Vasco Mendonça) at the Amphithéâtre Bastille.

In concert, he has appeared at the festival Voix d’Automne in Évian-les-Bains alongside Leonardo García Alarcón, at the Festival Radio France Montpellier Occitanie with Ensemble Il Caravaggio directed by Camille Delaforge, at the Festival de La Chaise-Dieu with Les Accents under Thibault Noally, performing Oloferne in La Giuditta, in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Ensemble Matheus at the Chapelle de la Trinité in Lyon, at the Festival Idéal in the Potager du Roi with pianist Olga Dubynska, and performs regularly with Le Poème Harmonique directed by Vincent Dumestre.

Fernando Escalona began his vocal training in Venezuela with Margot Parès-Reyna as part of El Sistema, and later with Isabel Palacios at the Camerata Barroca de Caracas. At the same time, he attended masterclasses with Mirella Freni, Katia Ricciarelli, Laura Claycomb, Markus Marquardt, Michael Pinkerton, Gerald Wirth, and Chantal Mathias.

A soloist in Beethoven’s Fantaisie Chorale with the Orquesta Simón Bolívar under César Iván-Lara, and later in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Orquesta de Jóvenes de Caracas under Christian Vásquez, he joined the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles in 2016 under the guidance of Olivier Schneebeli. There he participated in numerous productions, including Salieri’s Les Horaces conducted by Christophe Rousset and Rameau’s Les Fêtes d’Hébé, in collaboration with the Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris and the Royal College of Music in London under the direction of Jonathan Williams.

He was a finalist in the Concours international de chant de Marmande in 2018.

Highlights of his 2026–2027 season include Medoro (Orlando) and Le Lapin blanc (Alice au pays des Merveilles) at the Opéra de Nice, as well as Lalande’s Leçons de ténèbres with Le Poème Harmonique.

Alongside his career as a soloist, he continues his work as Assistant Vocal Coach with the Coro Nacional Simón Bolívar de Venezuela, of which he is a founding member. With the choir, he has taken part in numerous international tours under conductors such as Helmuth Rilling, Johan de Meij, Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, and Gustavo Dudamel.

Fernando Escalona has been represented by RSBA since 2020.