BIOGRAPHY

Baritone David Kravitz is increasingly in demand on operatic and concert stages. Critics have hailed his "large, multi-layered" and "sumptuously flexible" voice, his "power and eloquence," his "deeply considered acting" and "confident stage presence," his "impeccable musicality," and his "deep understanding of the text." His 2012-2013 season begins with return appearances at the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit for Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, at Boston Modern Orchestra Project to sing King Fisher in Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage, and at Boston Baroque's New Year's Eve/Day concerts for Pergolesi's La serva padrona. Mr. Kravitz makes his company debuts in 2013 with Chautauqua Opera as Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes, with Washington National Opera as Davis Miller in the world premiere of Approaching Ali, and with Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Pooh-Bah in The Mikado. Also in 2013, Mr. Kravitz returns to Carnegie Hall for Handel's Radamisto with the English Concert under Harry Bicket, to Boston Lyric Opera to sing Abraham in the American premiere of MacMillan's Clemency, and to Emmanuel Music for Nick Carraway in the Boston and Tanglewood premieres of Harbison's The Great Gatsby. He also sings Monterone in Rigoletto with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Kravitz received the 2013 "Best Supporting Actor in a Musical" award from the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) for Pooh-Bah in The Mikado with the Lyric Stage Company of Boston. His 2013-14 season includes a company debut with Dallas Opera and return engagements with Boston Lyric Opera.

His 2011-2012 season included company debuts at Atlanta Opera for The Golden Ticket, Florentine Opera for Ping in Turandot, Opera Memphis for Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, and New York City's Little Orchestra Society for King Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors at Avery Fisher Hall. He also returned to Boston Lyric Opera for Cosimo in Musto's The Inspector, sang Raymondo in the American premiere of Handel's Almira with operamission in New York City, and sang Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Boston Midsummer Opera under the direction of Austin Pendleton.

In 2010-2011, Mr. Kravitz made his New York City Opera debut in Strauss's Intermezzo, and his European debut at Monte Carlo's Salle Garnier in the world premiere of Tod Machover's Death and the Powers which subsequently traveled to Chicago Opera Theater and the American Repertory Theater. He also returned to Opera Boston for Hindemith's rarely-heard opera Cardillac, he sang Nick Shadow in Emmanuel Music's production of The Rake's Progress, and he sang Taddeo in Boston Midsummer Opera's production of L'italiana in Algeri alongside Sandra Piques Eddy in the title role. Highlights from 2009-2010 included a return to Opera Theatre of St. Louis for the world premiere of The Golden Ticket, and Germont in La traviata with the Pioneer Valley Symphony. Mr. Kravitz's 2008-2009 opera season featured company debuts with Glimmerglass Opera (La traviata and The Consul) and American Lyric Theater in New York City, as well as return engagements with Opera Boston (Der Freischütz and The Bartered Bride). Previous seasons have included appearances with James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Les Troyens and Moses und Aron), and Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where critics hailed his "perfect comic timing" and "commanding" performance as Ko-Ko in The Mikado. Other recent opera roles include the title role in Wozzeck, Leporello and the title role in Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte.

An experienced and versatile concert artist, Mr. Kravitz garnered rave reviews for his "resolute power and total connection" (Opera News) in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink. This season Mr. Kravitz makes his Boston Pops debut, singing Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols under Keith Lockhart. He also sings the bass solos in Haydn's Die Schöpfung and Mozart's Requiem, he presents the New York and Boston premieres of Mohammed Fairouz's Anything Can Happen, and he performs Charles Fussell's Being Music, Fairouz's The Poet Declares His Renown, and Lee Hyla's Howl with the up-and-coming Arneis String Quartet. In the 2011-2012 season Mr. Kravitz returned to New York City's concert stages to present world premieres by Mohammed Fairouz (Symphony No. 3, at the Miller Theatre) and Marjorie Merryman (Wilde Epigrams, at Manhattan School of Music), and to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, DC for Julian Wachner's Come my dark-eyed one. He also sang Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with the Pioneer Valley Symphony, and stepped in for an ailing colleague to sing Haydn's The Seasons on very short notice. In 2010-11 he returned to the Boston Symphony for Bach's St. John Passion under Masaaki Suzuki, he covered Matthias Goerne in Britten's War Requiem with the Saito Kinen Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa, he sang his first Verdi Requiem, and he sang works of Ravel and Poulenc with the Boston Chamber Music Society. He made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in December 2008, singing the bass arias in Handel's Messiah under Julian Wachner; he sang the same work in 2010 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Concert engagements in 2009-2010 included Raphael in Haydn's Die Schöpfung with Emmanuel Music under John Harbison, Cimarosa's Il maestro di cappella with Boston Baroque under Martin Pearlman (a "tour de force," declared the Boston Globe), Messiah with the Charlotte Symphony, and return engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine and Sir Colin Davis. Other recent concert performances include Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Kindertotenlieder; Faust in Schumann's Szenen aus Goethes Faust; Elijah in Mendelssohn's Elijah; Apollo in Handel's Apollo e Dafne; and numerous works of J.S. Bach, including dozens of Cantatas with Boston's renowned Emmanuel Music.

Mr. Kravitz's commitment to new music has led to his presentation of world or regional premieres of numerous contemporary works, including this season Approaching Ali, Clemency, and The Great Gatsby. Critics hailed his performance of the leading role of Leontes in John Harbison's Winter's Tale with Boston Modern Orchestra Project as "brilliantly sung" and "a personal triumph." New music engagements for 2011-2012 included, in addition to the Merryman, Fairouz, and Wachner concerts noted above, an opera by James Yannatos, a cantata by Rodney Lister, and a work for baritone and string quartet by Fairouz. New music engagements in 2010-2011 included Dominick Argento's song cycle The Andrée Expedition, newly-commissioned songs by Andy Vores and James Yannatos, and the world premiere of an oratorio by Kareem Roustom. In past seasons, Mr. Kravitz presented the world premieres of Thomas Whitman's A Scandal in Bohemia with Orchestra 2001; James Yannatos's Lear Symphony with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra; and short operas by Andy Vores and Theo Loevendie with Boston Musica Viva.

Mr. Kravitz appears as a featured soloist on five commercial recordings that are scheduled for release in 2012-13: Mohammed Fairouz's For Victims with the Borromeo String Quartet (Naxos), Peter Ash's opera The Golden Ticket with Atlanta Opera (Albany Records), Harbison's Winter's Tale (BMOP/sound), Andy Vores' 50-minute song cycle Goback Goback (BMOP/sound), and Robert Stern's oratorio Shofar (Navona Records). He also appears in Tod Machover's opera Death and the Powers, forthcoming at a future date from BMOP/sound. His previously-released recordings include Bach's Cantata BWV 20 and St. John Passion with Emmanuel Music (Koch International Classics), Harbison's Four Psalms and Peter Child's Estrella with Cantata Singers (New World), and Graham Ramsay's The Sacred Voice (Albany Records).

Before devoting himself full-time to a career in music, Mr. Kravitz had a distinguished career in the law that included clerkships with U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer. He later served as Deputy Legal Counsel to the Governor of Massachusetts.