baritone Michael Adams. Photo: DARIO Acosta
Biography
Praised by Opera News for “brandishing a beautiful, evenly produced, nicely ripe sound,” Michael Adams makes his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2023-24 season as Dancaïre in a new production of Carmen. He also retunes to Utah Opera as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro and sings his first and subsequent performances of Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Phoenix Symphony and the Western Piedmont Symphony. His future engagements include a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Scarus in Adams’ Anthony and Cleopatra and for the company’s production of Le nozze di Figaro. Last season, he also sang the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with both Opera Omaha and Madison Opera and returned to the role of Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Idaho.
The baritone recently made his debut at the Grand Teatre del Liceu as Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles. He first joined Seattle Opera as the title role in Eugene Onegin, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and Belcore in filmed performances of L’elisir d’amore and made company debuts and subsequent returns at the Grand Théâtre de Genève as Melisso in Alcina, and Marcello in La bohème, Masetto in Don Giovanni, and Maximilian in Candide; Utah Opera as Marcello in La bohème, Silvio in Pagliacci, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Betto in Gianni Schicchi; and Des Moines Metro Opera as Lescaut in Manon, Ping in Turandot, Donald in Billy Budd. He joined Dallas Opera as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Austin Opera for the Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Knoxville Opera for Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, made his first appearance at the Glimmerglass Festival as Gaylord Ravenal in Showboat, and sang Edwin Cheney in Hagen’s Shining Brow with Arizona Opera.
Mr. Adams has returned to Washington National Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Lieutenant Audebert in Puts’ Silent Night. He is a former Cafritz Young Artist with the company, and while there sang 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, and Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen and recently returned as the Count and the Herald in Shrecker’s rarely-performed Der Schatzgräber. 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, and Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri. He is a former Resident Artist of the Santa Fe Opera and Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera.
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 and completed further training at the Seagle Music Colony and Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center.
