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Michael Adams

Michael Adams
Arielle Doneson.

Praised by Opera News for “brandishing a beautiful, evenly produced, nicely ripe sound,” Michael Adams debuts three roles in returns to companies in the 2019-20 season season: the title role of Eugene Onegin with Seattle Opera, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Washington National Opera, and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Utah Opera. He also debuts with the Metropolitan Opera as Kuligin in Kát’a Kabanová and Arizona Opera as Edwin Cheney in Hagen’s Shining Brow and returns to The Glimmerglass Festival for the title role of Don Giovanni. On the concert stage, he joins the Fort Worth Symphony for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Last season he made role and company debuts as Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles at the Grand Teatre del Liceu, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Knoxville Opera, and Gaylord Ravenal in Showboat at The Glimmerglass Festival in the 2018-19 season. He also returned to Washington National Opera as Lieutenant Audebert in Puts’ Silent Night.

The baritone first joined Seattle Opera as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and made company debuts and subsequent returns with the Grand Théâtre de Genève as Melisso in Alcina, and Marcello in La bohème, and Masetto in Don Giovanni; Utah Opera as Marcello in La bohème, Silvio in Pagliacci, and Betto in Gianni Schicchi; and Des Moines Metro Opera as Lescaut in Manon, Ping in Turandot, Donald in Billy Budd. At Washington National Opera, where he is a former Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists, he has sung Melisso in Alcina, the Pilot in Portman’s The Little Prince, the title role of Don Giovanni, Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, and the Motorcycle Cop and Prison Guard #1 in Dead Man Walking. He joined the Deutsche Oper Berlin for a season, singing a number of roles including Ping in Turandot, the Marquis in La traviata, Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen, in addition to covering Neluso in L’Africaine. His concert performances include a Bernstein concert under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Bach’s Cantata No. 29 and Handel’s Te Deum, all with the Fort Worth Symphony.

Mr. Adams completed two years as a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where his performances included Valentin in Faust, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Lescaut in Manon, Tomsky in Pique Dame, Schaunard in La bohème, Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri, and the Marquis in La traviata. He is a former Resident Artist of the Santa Fe Opera, having joined the company for its productions of Rigoletto, La fille du regiment, and the world premiere of Higdon’s Cold Mountain. His previous performances include the Lackey in Ariadne auf Naxos and the Corporal in La fille du regiment with Fort Worth Opera; Presto in Les mamelles de Tirésias with Wolf Trap Opera while a member of its studio program.

He was a 2018 grant winner from The William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation. Additionally, he was 2015 winner of first place in the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition, and the Mario Lanza Competition; the namesake award from the Nelson Eddy Foundation; third place in the Giulio Gari Foundation International Vocal Competition, and fifth place in the Loren L. Zachary Competition, an encouragement award winner of the Opera Index Competition. He was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions semi-finalist in 2015.

Mr. Adams holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Christian University, where he sang his first performances of Don Giovanni, and has also been a member of the Seagle Music Colony and Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center.

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