Justino Diaz (born January 29, 1940 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is an international renowned opera singer.

Justino was born in San Juan but, lived and was raised in a humble family in the town of Cataño. He attended Robinson Elementary School where at the age of 8 he started to participate in the school's activities as a singer. In his first school play when he was 10 years old he sang the song "Old Black Joe", which became his favorite. After finishing his primary education, Justino attended the University of Puerto Rico High School in Rio Piedras. While in high school, he took singing classes and participated in various presentations around the island.

Justino joined the choir of the University of Puerto Rico where he sang solo. It wasn't long before Justino enrolled in the Music Conservatory of New England in Massachussets. One of his professors was Boris Goldovsky, who would be very influential in his career. Justino made his professional debut as an opera singer at the Opera Theater of New England. In 1960, Goldovsky asked Justino to join his opera company on a 20 state tour. After the tour, he entered and participated in a competition celebrated at the Metropolitan Opera House, winning third place in the New England region.

Justino moved to New York upon finishing his studies at the conservatory. Goldovsky recommended that he be represented by Hans J. Hoffman, a talent agent. Soon, Justino was singing alongside other artists at the American Opera Society. He also sang with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

On March 29, 1963, Justino won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan of New York, becoming the "first" Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor. As a consequence, Justino made his Metropolitan debut on October 1963 in Verdi's Rigoletto as Monterone. Among the opera houses in which Justino has made presentations are: La Scala in Milan, Italy; Paris Opera, The Vienna Staatsoper; the Opera House of Salzburg; the Opera of Spoletto; the Opera of Rome; The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden; the Colón Theater in Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Zarzuela Theater of Madrid and others. In 1966 he helped to inaugurate the Lincoln Center in New York by starring in a performance of Anthony and Cleopatra by Samuel Barber.

In Puerto Rico, Justino was a frequent participant in the annual Casals Festival. He sang in the inaguration of the Luis A. Ferre Center of Beautiful Arts in San Juan. He also played the role of Luis Muñoz Marin in the 1984 musical Fela. In 1986, Justino played the role of Jago, opposite Placido Domingo in Franco Zeffirelli's film adoptation of Otello.

Justino recorded El Mesias, Semele and Soloman by Handel. He also recorded Lucia di Lammermoor, L'Assedio di Corinto and Thais with Beverly Sills.

Among the recognitions and awards which Justino has been honored with are: An Honorary Doctorate in Music from the New England Conservatory , The Handel Medal from the City of New York and The National Medal of Culture from the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.

On March 29, 2003, Justino Diaz retired after 40 years in the arts. However, before he made his last presentation at the Luis A. Ferrer Center of the Beautiful Arts, he held a good-bye tour where he closed all of his presentations with the song "Old Black Joe", the same song that he sang at the Robinson Elementry School when he was 10 years old.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans