Praised for his “plangent timbre,” David Walton dazzles stages across the country to critical acclaim as a versatile lyric tenor to watch. A favorite tenor of bel canto, Mr. Walton has established himself in roles such as Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Tonio in Donizetti‘s La fille du régiment, and frequent Rossini roles such as Ramiro in La cenerentola, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri. As Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Minnesota Opera, his voice was described as “the sweetest singing of the evening...a lyric tenor with strong Italianate stylings,” (Star Tribune), and his Ramiro with Virginia Opera was called, “smooth, lyrical, and capable of scaling the heights” (Virginia Pilot). 

 

In the 2026-2027 season, Mr. Walton makes his company debut this Fall with Lyric Opera of Chicago covering Ernesto in Don Pasquale. He brings his signature Frederic to Amarillo Opera in The Pirates of Penzance and debuts Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore in a return to Sarasota Opera. Another company debut includes Opera Colorado this Spring for Ferrando in Così fan tutte. On the concert stage, he collaborates once again with Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra in their Messiah and sings his first Rachmaninoff Vespers with the new Tapestry Choral Collective. In the previous season, Mr. Walton brought his Almaviva to his original hometown performing with Nashville Opera and returned to Virginia Opera once again as Ramiro. He performed Tamino in another collaboration of the Barry Kosky production of Die Zauberflöte with Opera San Antonio and debuted Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Toledo Opera.