Carlos Mena (born 1971) comes from the Basque country, Spain. As a countertenor he pursues intensive concert activities in the most important halls and festivals from Vienna, Amsterdam and London to New York, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and Sydney and with the most famous conductors. His repertoire is very broad, ranging from the Middle Ages to the central repertoire of the 17th up to the early 19th century and also contemporary music, with opera performances being a main focus. His artistic activity is documented by more than 50 CD recordings, which have also received numerous awards.
He completed his training at the Conservatorio Superior de Música "Jesús Guridi" in his hometown of Vitoria-Gasteiz and subsequently at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis until 1997. There he studied with Richard Levitt and René Jacobs, devoted himself to the repertoire of the Middle Ages with Dominique Vellard and to opera with Nicolau de Figueiredo.
He himself has been teaching at the Academia de Música Antigua at the University of Salamanca since 1998 and at Musikex, the Extremadura School of Music (Cáceres) since 2018, also imparting his knowledge as a visiting professor at the Teatro Real de Madrid, University of Alfonso X in Madrid, University of Alcalá de Henares, academies in Cursos Manuel de Falla, Gran Canaria, Copenhagen and elsewhere. Per autumn semester 22-23 he was appointed professor for voice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
Carlos Mena is also active as a conductor, with different orchestras such as the Sinfónica de Galicia, the Orquesta de la Ciudad de Granada, the Sinfónica de RTVE and the Sinfonica de Portugal.