José van Dam honorary citizen of the City of Brussels

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Van Dam received the title of 'Honorary Citizen of the City of Brussels' after the show of Don Quichotte at the la Monnaie - De Munt theatre. The title is a tribute to the 50-year career of the bass-baritone.

International career

José van Dam was born in 1940 in Brussels. He later studied singing at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. After finishing his studies in 1961 he sang in the Opera of Paris (Les Troyens de Berlioz). In 1967 he was active in Geneva and from 1967 to 1973, he joined the Berlin Opera. His major international breakthrough came in the 1970s in:

• the Scala of Milan
• the Metropolitan Opera in New York
• Covent Garden in London
• Vienna
• the La Monnaie - De Munt in Brussels

In La Monnaie - De Munt, Van Dam sang in Boris Godounov, Falstaff, Wozzeck, Le Nozze di Figaro, Salomé, Gianni Schicchi and Il Turco in Italia.

In 1973 he returned to Paris for his first roles in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, La Bohème, Le Nozze di Figaro. In 1983 he participated in the creation of Saint François d'Assise by Olivier Messiaen, which was redone in 2004. This year he celebrates the 30th anniversary of his debut at the Monnaie - Munt in the title role of Massenet's Don Quichotte.