World renowned baritone to make Hesston appearance

David Adam Moore
Internationally acclaimed baritone David Adam Moore will perform the second concert in the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts five-concert series at 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2, at Hesston Mennonite Church.

David Adam Moore, one of the world’s most sought-after operatic baritones, will perform a multi-media seasonal concert of Franz Schubert’s song cycle “Die Winterreise” (“A Winter Journey”) with pianist Earl Buys at Hesston College as part of the 2012-13 Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Series at 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus.

“Die Winterreise” is a setting of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller performed in Schubert’s native German. Moore created a multimedia staging of Schubert’s masterwork with video projection, including English surtitles, as a way to help the audience visualize the very descriptive text.

“What’s special about this concert is that, as the performer, I’ll be free to use the entire stage and include visual elements to illustrate things that would normally be left to the audience’s imagination,” said Moore. “The text and music of ‘Winterreise’ are so full of imagery that it’s impossible to perform it or listen to it without seeing some sort of mental reel of what is being described.”

Moore rose to international acclaim when he made his operatic debut in the title role of Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” with the New Israeli Opera. Since then, he has performed in countless roles at major opera houses and with famous orchestras worldwide.

The “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” praised the Texas native for his “enviable swagger coupled with a subtle musicality and big, handsome voice.”

Moore is a graduate of the Oberlin (Ohio) College Conservatory of Music and the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) – College Conservatory of Music. He was also accepted into the Seattle Young Artists program before making it big on opera’s world stage.

His performance resume includes work with companies in New Orleans, Houston, Seattle, Carnegie Hall, Japan, Germany, France, Ireland and more, starring in popular operas including “Don Giovanni,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Barber of Seville” and “Carmina Burana.”

An advocate of contemporary music, Moore has performed several works by American composers Martin Hennessy and Stephen Louis Bayne, most notably “9/11/01” at New York’s Guggenheim Art Museum. He is also an accomplished composer, whose work, “Kronos,” was featured in a performance by Delaware’s Oxymoros Dance Ensemble.

Aside from a rare appearance in south-central Kansas, Moore’s 2012-13 season features his debut in major roles with well-known companies, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” followed by a performance as Jud Fry in “Oklahoma!” He will also debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Prior Walter in “Angels in America” and make a return appearance with Arizona Opera as Mercutio in “Romeo et Juliette” and further performances as Kowalski with Virginia Opera.

Pianist Earl Buys has been a highly sought-after accompanist and coach for more than 40 years. His resume includes appearing in recital with hundreds of singers and instrumentalists throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and South America, official accompanist for dozens of opera competitions, performing in every major New York City venue and employment with major opera companies across the U.S. and around the world.

Moore will also conduct a master class with voice students from Hesston College and Bethel College Monday morning, Dec. 3 at Hesston Mennonite Church. The class is free and open to the public. Contact the Hesston College Music department at 620-327-8141 for the time.

Single tickets for the David Adam Moore concert are available for $16 or $19 with discounts available for students and senior citizens.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 620-327-8158 (Hesston College) or 316-284-5205 (Bethel College) or visit the HBPA website at www.hesston.edu/hbpa.

HBPA is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency which believes a great nation deserves great Art, Excel Industries and Hustler Turf Equipment (Hesston), the cities of Hesston and North Newton and area patrons.