Staff

Civic Opera Theater
of Kansas City

Staff

David Adams

The Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City is pleased to announce the selection of David Adams as its General Producing Director. Adams will take over the responsibilities of planning and producing each season’s operas for the Civic Opera, beginning immediately with the Opera Scenes concert set for January 2009, described in the accompanying article.

Adams, a tenor, is no stranger to Civic Opera audiences, having starred as Percy Shelley in John Mueter’s Everlasting Universe for the Civic Opera in August 2007. He has alsoperformed for a number of other opera companies around the country, including the Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, Caramoor Festival, New York City Opera, and the opera companies of

Fort Worth, Wolf Trap, Syracuse, Augusta and Binghamton. His other engagements have included the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Houston’s Orchestra X and the Pittsburgh Opera Summer Series.

Upon assuming the position of General Producing Director for the Civic Opera Theater, Adams stated that “I am very excited about this opportunity. This company has provided many great opportunities for the enormous pool of fine talent our community holds. My mission will be to reach further into the community with our endeavors to build our audiences, and to continue to bring high quality productions to Kansas City stages.”

“We are at a unique and exciting stage in the growth of the Kansas City Arts community,” Adams said, “and I want COT to have a significant role in this.”

Among Adams’ favorite operatic roles are the title character in Acis and Galatea and Jupiter in Semele, both by Handel; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Tamino in Die Zauberflote, Belmonte in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, and Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, all by Mozart; and such Rossini roles as Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Argirio in Tancredi and Otello in Otello.

As a concert artist, Adams has performed many works of Bach, including the St. Matthew Passion and St. John’s Passion and a B Minor Mass. He has appeared as a soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s The Creation and Handel’s Messiah, Esther and Saul. His concert work includes performances at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City as well as various venues throughout the United States and Europe.

Adams is a member of the Kansas City Chorale and was featured as the Celebrant in the Chorale’s recording of Rachmaninov’s Liturgy of St. John of Crysostum. He has been a featured soloist and section leader for Unity Temple on the Plaza for 15 years. His upcoming performances include the tenor soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra.

During David's time with the company has simply taken Civic Opera Theater further toward its' new goal of reaching a broader audience. No longer a completely volunteer organization, we now strive to do this by finding a unique blend of local talent to produce rarely seen works, both early and contemporary. In the future, his personal hope is to bring Civic Opera Theater to 'the masses' ; educating the community at large about opera through presentations in new and exciting venues across the city.

Adams is a private voice teacher and has also taught with the Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley school districts. His non-singing business experience includes being the director of personal training at Planet Fitness, where he is currently employed.