Garðar Thór Cortes

by Matt Collar Iceland-born classical vocalist Garðar Thór Cortes is a successful tenor whose talent and good looks have found him not only performing lead roles in various operas in Europe and the U.K., but also releasing several popular classical crossover albums. Born in Reykjavik in 1974, Cortes grew up in a musical family, as his father was a well-known tenor who founded several musical institutions in Iceland, including the Icelandic Opera. Similarly, Cortes' British mother was a concert pianist. Interestingly, Cortes was cast as a lead in the popular Icelandic television show Nonni and Manni, in which he starred in his early teens, and it was not until he was 18 that he decided to dedicate his life to music. Ultimately, Cortes enrolled in the Reykjavik School of Singing -- which his father founded -- and later won a scholarship to the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, from which he quickly left to study privately in Denmark. Subsequent performances in London productions of West Side Story and The Phantom of the Opera garnered him some positive attention, as did a concert in Reykjavik in 2002 alongside vocalist Katherine Jenkins, which received much critical praise. While continuing to perform in numerous operas around Europe, Cortes released his debut classical crossover album, Cortes, in Iceland in 2005. His sophomore effort, also titled Cortes, was released in the U.K. in 2007.