Born in Mexico City, Bernal started his vocal training at the age of 16 years at the
National Conservatory of Music of Mexico under the direction of the soprano Irma Gonzalez and later by the professor in lyric singing,
Enrique Jaso. He became a member of the
Merola Opera Program in the
San Francisco Opera House (USA) and the Opernstudio of
Zurich (
Switzerland). He also was trained by the mezzo-soprano
Viorica Cortez in singing repertoire. At 18 years old, he made his debut as "Beppe" in the opera
I Pagliacci at the
Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. At the beginning of his career, the fact of having easy top notes led him to successfully undertake Rossini's repertoire. However, later his voice developed an ample tessitura which enabled him to sing roles as a strong lyric tenor. He was the winner of several contests including "Pacific voices" (San Francisco), "Kaffe Peters" (Viena), "Operalia" (Mexico) and Francisco Alonso (Madrid). In 1996, he became the first soloist of the group of professional singers in Zurich and, the following year at the Teatre of Bonn and Trier until 2000 when he, at the same time, was invited to sing in famous theatres located in
Berlin,
Cologne, Hamburg and
Baden-Baden, interpreting many diverse roles. Presently, he is continuously performing in leading opera theaters in
Costa Rica,
Venezuela,
Colombia,
Argentina,
Panama and Mexico. He also has sung at
Covent Garden,
Copenhagen Opera House,
La Fenice in
Venice,
Teatro Filarmonico (
Verona),
Teatro di San Carlo (
Naples),
Teatro Politeama (Palermo),
Teatro Massimo Bellini (
Catania),
San Francisco Opera House,
Washington Opera,
Opéra de Marseille and
Montpellier among others. In Spain, he has sung in
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
Tenerife,
Valladolid,
Teatro Español of
Madrid,
Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall of
Bilbao, the
Liceu of
Barcelona, and the Madrid
Teatro Real. He has sung next to well-known singers such as
Mariella Devia,
Sonia Ganassi,
Dolora Zajick,
Isabel Rey,
Inva Mula,
Patrizia Ciofi,
Plácido Domingo,
José Carreras,
Juan Pons,
Justino Díaz,
Carlos Álvarez and
Carlos Chausson. He has performed under the baton of directors such as
Nello Santi,
Pinchas Steinberg,
Fabio Luisi,
Pier Luigi Pizzi and
Jean-Louis Pichon. == Repertoire ==