BIOGRAPHY

Hailed as “a charismatic baritone” by the New York Times, “magnificently stentorian and resonant” by Opera News, and “a first-rate actor” by Opera (UK), David Kravitz’s recent opera engagements include lead roles at Washington National Opera (Davis Miller in the world premiere of Approaching Ali), Chautauqua Opera (Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes), Skylight Music Theatre (Scarpia in Tosca), Opera Santa Barbara (The Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen), Grand Harmonie (Don Pizarro in Fidelio), Opera Saratoga (Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola), Charlottesville (Ash Lawn) Opera (Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof), Boston Lyric Opera (Abraham in Clemency), Emmanuel Music (Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress and Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby), and the New England Philharmonic (Wozzeck in Wozzeck). He created the lead role of De Sade in Nicola Moro’s Love Hurts at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, Italy, and at Symphony Space in New York. His many concert appearances include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Emmanuel Music, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Boston Baroque.

Highlights for this season include a return to the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk under Andris Nelsons, Fredrik in A Little Night Music with Opera Huntsville, Duke Bluebeard in Bluebeard's Castle with the MIT Symphony Orchestra, and Pilate/aria soloist in the Saint Matthew Passion with Emmanuel Music. In 2022, Mr. Kravitz sang the title role in Elijah with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under Jun Märkl, and he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Wozzeck at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall.

The pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season included returns to Odyssey Opera for the Duke of Norfolk in Saint-Saens' Henry VIII, to Emmanuel Music for Bach's Mass in B minor, and to the Jacksonville Symphony for Handel's Messiah. The 2018-19 season featured Leporello in Don Giovanni with the Jacksonville Symphony under Courtney Lewis, and Bernstein’s Benediction (from Concerto for Orchestra) with A Far Cry. He also returned to Odyssey Opera for Gounod’s La Reine de Saba, he appeared as a guest artist with Boston University's Opera Institute as The Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen, he performed Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with the New England Philharmonic, he presented the Defiant Requiem Foundation’s Hours of Freedom in New York City’s Zankel Hall, and he reprised Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles with mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy. Highlights from the 2017-18 season included three appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra: The Damnation of Faust, Tristan und Isolde, and Schumann’s Neujahrslied (the latter two under music director Andris Nelsons); Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon with the Boston Chamber Music Society; and Creon and The Messenger in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Emmanuel Music.

An exceptionally versatile artist, Mr. Kravitz’s repertoire ranges from Bach to Verdi to Sondheim to cutting-edge contemporary composers such as Matthew Aucoin, Mohammed Fairouz, Paul Moravec, and Elena Ruehr. Mr. Kravitz has recorded for the Naxos, BIS, Sono Luminus, Koch International Classics, BMOP/sound, Albany Records, and New World labels. His distinguished legal career has included clerkships with the Hon. Sandra Day O'Connor and the Hon. Stephen Breyer.