Reviews of Local Concerts and Productions
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Concert Singers of Cary present Mozart’s Requiem — April 27, 2024
William Adams, DMA To conclude their 33rd season, the Concert Singers of Cary, under the direction of Dr. Nathan Leaf, and in conjunction with Mallarmé Music, chose two works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The first, Dixit et Magnificat, is lesser known, composed in 1774...
Duke Chorale, SONAM, and Duke Medical Orchestra offer Harmony & Healing — March 30, 2024
William Adams, DMA Everyone knows the power Music has in affecting our moods. We all have go-to songs for when we’re happy and want to keep feeling happy, or when we’re sad and either want to come out of those blues or stay there and work through the sadness. It...
NCSU Theater’s Vivid Jekyll and Hyde — February 16, 2024
William Adams, DMA Robert Louis Stevenson first brought us the “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” in 1886. One of the foremost examples of gothic horror, it was initially published as a “penny dreadful.” Richard Mansfield and Thomas Russell Sullivan transformed...
NC Opera’s Brilliant Barber — February 2, 2024
William Adams, DMA What’s that age-old knock against opera? Opera singers can’t act, right? Maybe there was a time when that was marginally true. There have been periods in opera where singers came forward, stood in one place, and simply delivered their aria. Duets,...
Women’s Voices Celebrates 30 Years — January 27, 2024
William Adams, DMA How do you properly honor the accomplishments and achievements garnered over a thirty year span without seeming self-aggrandizing? Here’s a good option: pull musical selections from concerts over that entire history of the ensemble that not only...
Choral Arts Collective — Harmonious Holidays — December 10, 2023
William Adams, DMA It is rare to find large choruses that excel in multiple genres. More often than not, larger choruses focus on oratorios, cantatas, pieces conceived for the scope and power of larger choirs. They usually do not try to sing pieces that were intended...
SONAM — Music of Peace and Consolation — November 11, 2023
William Adams, DMA It is a very powerful thing, making music. Both the musician and the listener are transported, taken on a journey that can be whimsical or intensely emotional. Music invites us to explore deeper states of mind, deeper levels of consciousness, deeper...
Duke Opera presents Great Moments from Great Operas — November 10, 2023
William Adams, DMA Opera isn’t relatable. Opera is not for the masses. Opera is a dying art form. Et cetera, et cetera. To paraphrase Mr. Twain, it would appear the reports of Opera’s demise may have been exaggerated. Opera companies like the Metropolitan Opera are...
Oak City Voices present “Over the Moon” – November 4, 2023
William Adams, DMA We go to concerts to experience music in the moment. The unpredictability of a live performance is always exciting for both the performers and the audience. If we need to hear “perfection” in music, we listen to recordings that have been edited and...
NCSU Choirs Highlight Reena Esmail – November 2, 2023
William Adams, DMA The North Carolina State University Choirs under the direction of Dr. Nathan Leaf presented a diverse, somewhat eclectic program with texts ranging from Shakespeare to Native American poetry and music ranging from traditional Appalachian folk music...
North Carolina Opera’s “La Traviata” Shines
William Adams, DMA The operas of Giuseppe Verdi are among the most demanding, vocally, of any in the repertoire. They require strong yet agile voices capable of sustaining demanding tessiture through some of the most dramatic and intense characters seen on the opera...
Voices Summer Chorus presents “Not Just For Kids” – 14 July 2023
William Adams, DMAArt celebrates the human experience. Sometimes this means the solemnity of a requiem, sometimes this means the intricacies of human relationships, and sometimes it really is just about having a little fun. The Voices Summer Chorus presented “Not Just...
Vocal Arts Ensemble presents “Songs for a Summer Evening” – 25 June 2023
William Adams, DMA Patience. Every great artist understands the need for patience in one’s art. I once heard a quote attributed to Haydn (but probably wasn’t really him) that said “the hardest thing to write are rests.” Whoever said it, they got it. We want to push...
About the reviewer
William Adams, DMA
William Adams’ musical career has been exceptionally diverse, driven equally by passions to expand the limits of his own artistic abilities and to reach out and empower musicians of all ages and backgrounds.
Trained as an operatic baritone, he has a growing repertoire of more than 70 roles in opera, oratorio, and musical theater. An avid choral musician, his experience includes vocal jazz, madrigals, contemporary a cappella, and barbershop harmony. His instrumental background has led to performances on more than 40 instruments in every conceivable setting from symphony orchestras to rock bands.
His work as a conductor has led him to more than 100 festivals around the country, community and church choirs, barbershop choruses, theater productions, marching bands, symphonic bands, and jazz bands. He currently serves as Artistic Director for two ensembles based in Durham, North Carolina. Heart of Carolina A Cappella, a multi-award winning barbershop harmony chorus; and the Triangle Vocal Project, an 18-voice professional chamber choir whose mission is to make great music and raise money for music-based charities.
A fierce advocate for music education, he has lectured throughout the country about curriculum design, music education advocacy, vocal health, and performance practice techniques to performers and educators alike. He is a published scholar in the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams.
His compositions and arrangements for choirs, soloists, and for the stage, have earned awards from the Kennedy Center and performances at Carnegie Hall and throughout the United States and Europe.
Dr. Adams earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, the Master of Music degree from California State University at Northridge, the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from California State University at San Bernardino, and the Associate of Arts degree from Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
