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 with the 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 sang Tamino in another performance of the Barry Kosky production of Die Zauberflöte with Opera San Antonio and debuted Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Toledo Opera.
Other operatic credits include the title role in Bernstein’s Candide, Filippo in Haydn’s L’ infidelta delusa, Acis in Handel‘s Acis and Galatea, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohéme, and Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. He has appeared with Cincinnati Opera, Madison Opera, Kentucky Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Delaware, Princeton Festival, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
David has sung multiple new works in workshops and world premieres throughout the country including Larry Renault in William Bolcom and Mark Campbell’s Dinner at Eight, Happy Felsch in Joel Puckett and Eric Simonson’s The Fix, and Ed Mavole in Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Manchurian Candidate as part of the New Works Inititative with Minnesota Opera. Other contemporary roles include Tom in the world premiere of Companionship by Rachel Peters with Fort Worth Opera, Younger Thompson in Cipullo’s Glory Denied with Union Avenue Opera, Miles in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up with Journey North Opera, and Delbert Grady and Stuart Ullman in the world premiere of Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s The Shining with Minnesota Opera, as well as the remounted production with Opera Parallèle directed by Brian Staufenbiel and conducted by Nicole Paiement.
An accomplished concert soloist, David recently made his Carnegie Hall debut as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore, and has appeared as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Pacific Symphony, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, in addition to Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Beethoven’s Mass in C. He also performs the many works of J.S. Bach including Magnificat, St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, and numerous Cantatas, of which his solo in BWV 80 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano was claimed as a “vocal standout” and “right down the traditional line of a fine Bach tenor” by ARTS ATL.
Other projects include premieres by Libby Larsen, Missy Mazzoli, Jocelyn Hagen, Kevin Puts, and Nico Muhly. Ensemble and chamber appearances include Transept, Minnesota Bach Ensemble, The Schubert Club, Dallas Museum of Art, Vocal Essence, The First Readings Project, and Cantus Vocal Ensemble, with whom he performed for three full seasons, touring all over the world at locations like NPR, Kennedy Center, A Prairie Home Companion, and the Royal Opera House of Muscat, Oman.
An accomplished concert soloist, David has appeared as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, in addition to Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Beethoven’s Mass in C. He also performs the many works of J.S. Bach including Magnificat, St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, and numerous Cantatas, of which his solo in BWV 80 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano was claimed as a “vocal standout” and “right down the traditional line of a fine Bach tenor” by ARTS ATL.
David is a 2017 Sullivan Grant Winner with the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation. He won 2nd Place and Italian Diction award in both the Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal Competition and Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition. Other competitions include a finalist in the 2021 concours de chant with Opéra Clermont Auvergne in France, District Winner in Minnesota for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and third place in the 2021 International Vocal Competition with the Rochester Oratorio Society.