David Gately
Director
Director David Gately is known for his vivid story telling and lively and clever productions. Recent reviews have called his staging “fresh, amusing and energetic,” and praised his direction which used “nuance and creative physical comedy, resulting in a superb production brimming with energy.”
Recent highlights for Mr. Gately include directing Les conte d”Hoffmann for Palm Beach Opera, Rigoletto with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Abduction from the Seraglio with Kentucky Opera, Before Night Falls with Florida Grand Opera, and Voir Dire with Fort Worth Opera. At Maryland Lyric Opera, Mr. Gately has staged their entire season of Verdi operas in concert which have included Don Carlos, Macbeth, Un ballo in maschera, Falstaff and Otello. During his tenure at Texas Christian University, Mr. Gately directed a world premiere production of Zach Redler and Jerre Dye’s The Falling and the Rising. This production was done as a coproduction with Soldier’s Chorus of the US Army Field Band and was produced at TCU. The production also won First Place in its division at the National Opera Association. More recently at TCU, Mr. Gately produced and directed the world premiere of Evan Mack and Joshua McGuire’s Yeltsin in Texas! Mr. Gately is also particularly proud to have directed the opera version of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America composed by Peter Eotvos for the BBC Orchestra in London and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Disney Concert Hall.
Mr. Gately, in a continuing relationship with Seattle Opera, directed a film of L’elisir d’amore during the pandemic. He then returned to direct the company’s first post-pandemic production of La Boheme. Most recently he staged a concert versions of the Saint-Saens opera Samson et , and the Strauss opera, Daphne. A highlight of the 2014 - 2015 season was his direction of La fanciulla del West with Des Moines Opera where he “created a vibrant staging that was not only grounded in truthful, meaningful relationships, but also filled the stage with well-motivated, seemingly spontaneous movement.” (Opera Today) Additional engagements that season included La Traviata with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Fort Worth Opera, and Silent Night with Calgary Opera.
The Director’s hugely successful “Wild West” production of Don Pasquale which was recently hailed as a “contemporary classic” by the Denver Post has been mounted by San Diego Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Colorado, Calgary Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Virginia Opera, Dayton Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opera Omaha, Edmonton Opera, the Fort Worth Opera, and at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
Mr. Gately joined the faculty of Boston Conservatory at Berklee in the fall of 2022 as Associate Professor of Opera. Before that he held the position as Director of the Opera Studio at Texas Christian University for seven years. He maintains an active professional career which includes over 300 productions at over 60 opera companies, symphony orchestras, theater companies and opera training programs.