Juan David Zuleta Marulanda is an interdisciplinary artist born in Pereira, Colombia, and naturalized Slovenian. Residing in Europe since 2011, he works as a composer, actor, writer and director in theater and musical theater, as well as a professional singer in various genres and a conductor of choirs and instrumental ensembles.
He is the author of two short operas premiered in Italy: Processo a Elena (2013), with a Greek libretto by Franco Farina, and Peccatrice (2015), with an Italian libretto by Veronica Pederzolli. He has also written three musicals staged in Slovenia: A me slišiš?!? (2023), with a Slovenian libretto by Kim Komljanec; Hotel Bohemia (2023), with an English libretto, written, composed, directed and performed by himself; and Deklica z vžigalicami (2024), with a Slovenian libretto by Pia Fabjan.
Juan graduated with top honors in Music Pedagogy from the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira (Colombia) and earned a degree in Singing with Alexandra Rezza at the Conservatory of Trento and Riva del Garda (Italy), where he also completed a master's degree in Choral Conducting and Composition with Lorenzo Donati in 2017. Between 2015 and 2016, as part of the Erasmus program, he studied Choral Conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Nils Schweckendiek and at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Lyon with Nicole Corti.
As a professional singer, he has been part of prestigious international ensembles, including the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, Trondheim Vocal Ensemble, the Guido Chigi Saracini Choir of Siena Cathedral, and the Kilden Soloists Vocal Ensemble in Norway, among others. He has conducted choirs, orchestras and instrumental ensembles across Italy, France, Finland, Colombia and Slovenia.
In 2024, the Slovenian Ministry of Culture granted him extraordinary citizenship in recognition of his artistic contributions. In 2025, the same ministry awarded him autonomous status in the field of culture, officially recognizing him as a full-time composer in theater and musical theater.
Juan is the first foreign actor admitted to the prestigious Šentjakobsko Gledališče theater in Ljubljana. As a stage creator and actor, he writes and performs his own theatrical works in independent Slovenian theaters and participates in theater, television, film and advertising campaigns. His catalog as a singer-songwriter is available on digital platforms.