Hailed for his “sonorous and secure voice” (Opera Today), baritone Adam Cannedy has enjoyed a career that has spanned over a decade, making his way onto opera and concert stages across the country. A champion of contemporary opera, Mr. Cannedy has collaborated with and performed for living composers including Carlisle Floyd, Ned Rorem, Oliver Knussen, William Bolcom, Stephen Paulus, Simon Sargon, Richard Wargo, Peter Ash, Tom Cipullo, Louis Karchin, and Philip Glass. Highlights of his work in contemporary opera include Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are (role of Rooster Wild Thing) as a guest artist with the Tanglewood Music Center's Contemporary Music Festival and his subsequent Lincoln Center debut with New York City Opera; the staged premiere of William Bolcom's Lucrezia (Chucho); Stephen Paulus's The Postman Always Rings Twice (Frank Chambers); the world premiere of Simon Sargon’s The Singing Violin (Baron Frederick); the world premiere of Peter Ash's The Golden Ticket (Oompa Loompa) with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; and the European premieres of both The Golden Ticket and Richard Wargo's Winners (Ballad Singer) during the 2010 season of Ireland's Wexford Festival Opera, the occasion of Mr. Cannedy's European debut. Most recently, Mr. Cannedy can be heard on the original cast recording of the world premiere of Louis Karchin's Jane Eyre with the Center for Contemporary Opera in collaboration with Naxos Records.
Throughout 2016, Mr. Cannedy continued to explore American opera of all vintages, beginning with his role debut as LeBlanc in the revival of Goodwin and Rice's 1874 American opera buffa Evangeline with the Longfellow Chorus in Portland, Maine. He joined Light Opera of New York to perform the role of Otis Hooper in Jerome Kern's Sally, a production recorded by Albany Records. (Albany Records has also recorded and released Mr. Cannedy's Light Opera of New York debut engagement as John Blake in Victor Herbert's The Only Girl.) In October 2016, Mr. Cannedy joined the Center for Contemporary Opera for the world premiere of Louis Karchin's Jane Eyre, in which he performed the roles of Mason and Mr. Briggs. In 2017, Mr. Cannedy made his debut with Opera San Jose in Puts' and Campbell's Pulitzer-Prize winning opera Silent Night; two other role debuts in 2017 included that of Older Thompson in Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied with Opera Upper West and Count Almaviva in Darius Milhaud's The Guilty Mother with On Site Opera in New York.
In previous seasons, Mr. Cannedy has enjoyed a particularly strong affiliation with Opera Omaha, joining the company as Bello in La fanciulla del West, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Marullo in Rigoletto, and Moralès in Carmen. He has joined Atlanta Opera as Marullo in Rigoletto and Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Lyric Opera of Virginia also as Le Dancaïre, and First Coast Opera as Masetto in Don Giovanni. Mr. Cannedy has fulfilled artist apprenticeships with Virginia Opera, Lyric Opera of Virginia, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Central City Opera, and Opera North. He was a 2011 prize winner in the Birmingham Opera Competition, a finalist in the Dallas Opera Guild Competition, and most recently won the People's Choice Award at the American Traditions Competition in Savannah, GA.
In 2019, Adam joined the touring group Empire Trio (formerly O Sole Trio), "an exhilarating and uniquely talented classical crossover ensemble that has been taking concert halls by storm all over the world." With tour dates for the 2020 season quickly starting to book up, he looks forward to coming to a city near you!
Additional performance credits include Cosi fan tutte (Guglielmo and Don Alfonso), A Little Night Music (Count Carl Magnus), Romeo et Juliette (Lord Capulet), Carmen (Escamillo), Susannah (Olin Blitch), Oklahoma! (Will Parker), The Music Man (Oliver Hix), Camelot (Lancelot), and Sweeney Todd (Anthony).
In 2019, Adam joined the touring group Empire Trio (formerly O Sole Trio), "an exhilarating and uniquely talented classical crossover ensemble that has been taking concert halls by storm all over the world." With tour dates for the 2020 season quickly starting to book up, he looks forward to coming to a city near you!
Additional performance credits include Cosi fan tutte (Guglielmo and Don Alfonso), A Little Night Music (Count Carl Magnus), Romeo et Juliette (Lord Capulet), Carmen (Escamillo), Susannah (Olin Blitch), Oklahoma! (Will Parker), The Music Man (Oliver Hix), Camelot (Lancelot), and Sweeney Todd (Anthony).