Mr. Bliss was most recently praised as “a peer of the best Toms in the opera’s seven-decade history” (Voix des Arts) in The Rake’s Progress at the Metropolitan Opera. The 2026–27 season sees him at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, returning to the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich as Alfredo in La Traviata, and at the Metropolitan Opera as Nikolaus Sprink in Kevin Puts’s Silent Night. He also makes his role debut as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood for Beethoven’s Ninth, and gives recitals at the Park Avenue Armory and Cal Performances.

Colombian cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia is a prolific soloist, composer, commissioner, recording artist, painter, and photographer described as “technically flawless… totally under the skin of the composers’ idioms” (The Strad). He was named a BBC New Generation Artist in 2022. Born in Bogotá in 1995, Cañón-Valencia made his orchestral debut as a soloist with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá at age six, blossoming into an accomplished musician praised as “an artist from whom sound and texture flow with ease and authenticity” (The Whole Note) and a “virtuoso of outstanding versatility and technical ease” (The Violin Channel).

For the 2025-2026 season, Cañón-Valencia takes on an international schedule, with engagements across the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Following summer concerto performances at Brevard Music Center, and with Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá in his native Colombia, he takes on a European schedule including solo recitals in Spain and Portugal, a performance with the Macedonian Philharmonic, and a seat on the jury for the Budapest International Cello Competition. In the United States, Cañón-Valencia is featured as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Camerata Pacifica. He also performs in recitals with pianist Victor Asuncion in Stanford and La Jolla, CA. His Latin American schedule takes him to the Puerto Rico Symphony, as well as the Festival de Música de Morelia in Mexico, and the Cartagena Music Festival in Colombia.

Cañón-Valencia’s many accolades include Silver Medalist and “Audience Favorite” at the 2019 XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition; recipient of the 2018 Starker Foundation Award; Third Prize honoree at the 2017 Queen Elisabeth International Competition; and First Prize winner at the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition and Beijing International Music Competition, among many others.

His solo career has taken him around the world to perform with such orchestras as the SWR Symphonieorchester, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Antwerp Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, and RTVE Symphony Orchestra, as well as all of the major orchestras in his native Colombia. During the 2023-2024 season, he made his debut at London’s Wigmore Hall as a BBC Next Generation Artist alongside pianist Naoko Sonoda. He has been featured at South Korea’s Mostly Cello Festival and in 100th birthday celebrations in honor of Janos Starker in Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan. Over recent seasons, his North American schedule has taken him to performances with orchestras including the Phoenix Symphony and Alabama Symphony.

Passionate about collaboration with living composers, Cañón-Valencia will perform the world premiere of Amparo Angel’s Cello Concerto at the Morelia Festival in Mexico, as well as the US premiere of Tobias Picker’s Cello Concerto with the Montgomery Symphony. Previously, he performed world premieres including Carlos Andrés Mejía’s Cello Concerto, “Aurora” at Colombia’s Pereira Music Fest, Jorge Pinzón’s Cello Concerto “Rapsodia a los 4 Elementos” at the Cartagena International Music Festival, and Carlos Izcaray’s commissioned cello concerto “Stringmaster” with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He also gave the Colombian premiere of Ginastera’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia.

As a recording artist, Cañón-Valencia enjoys immersing himself in known and unknown works, particularly in commissioning new pieces, arranging, and composing. In 2024, he released his debut single on Deutsche Grammophon, a recording of Arvo Pärt’s “Fratres” with pianist Naoko Sonoda, as part of the label’s Musical Moments series. Two additional singles will follow, including the release of his own composition titled “Ouróboros” . His latest complete album, Ascenso, was released in November 2022 on Sono Luminus, showcases pieces arranged and written by himself, plus works commissioned and written for him by contemporary Colombian composers. Earlier recordings include his acclaimed debut release Solo, an album with pianist Andrea Lucchesini dedicated to Schubert and Beethoven for the Egea label, and an album of Russian cello sonatas and popular pieces from the cello repertoire with pianist Katherine Austin for the Atoll label.

Cañón-Valencia’s primary musical mentors have been Henryk Zarzycki in Colombia, James Tennant in New Zealand, Andres Diaz in the United States, and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. He has been sponsored by the Mayra & Edmundo Esquenazi Scholarship through the Salvi Foundation since 2011.