Eduardo Santamaria was born in 1966 at Muriedas de Camargo in the Spanish province of Cantabria. After training as a painter at the University of País Vasco, he studied singing at the Guadalajara Conservatory with Angeles Chamorro, completing his course with the highest distinction. He continued with participation in a series of courses and masterclasses, among others with Alfredo Kraus, and performance in a repertoire ranging from the baroque to the romantic as a soloist with well-known Cantabrian ensembles and in song recitals, particularly with traditional Spanish repertoire.

He went on to appear in classical opera and in zarzuela. In 1996–97 he appeared at the Santander Opera as Borsa in Verdi’s Rigoletto and the following season he sang the rôle of Arnalta in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea under Alberto Zedda at the Madrid Teatro Zarzuela. In 2000 and 2002 he took part in the La Coruña Mozart Festival in Il viaggio a Reims. He took the principal rôle at the Madrid Teatro Real in the first performance of Luis de Pablo’s La señorita Cristina.