David Gately

David Gately joined the Conservatory in 2022 as associate professor of opera. He brings to the Conservatory a wealth of professional and teaching experience, having directed more than 300 productions for over 60 companies. He has been on the faculty of training programs in Trentino, Italy and at the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, New York. Gately also led the opera program at the Brevard Music Center for five years, from 2008 to 2012.

Prior to his current appointment, Gately served as assistant professor of music at Texas Christian University (TCU), where he also served as director of the opera studio. At TCU, under Gately's leadership, two world-premiere operas were presented: Evan Mack and Joshua McGuire's Yeltsin in Texas! and Zach Redler and Jerre Dye's The Falling and the Rising. The latter won first place in its division at the National Opera Association's 2017-2018 production competition.

Gately's professional highlights include directing Rigoletto with Lyric Opera of Kansas City;  The Abduction from the Seraglio with Kentucky Opera; Before Night Falls with Florida Grand Opera; Voir  Dire with Fort Worth Opera; and Peter Eotvos's opera Angels in America, with performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestra at the Barbican Center in London. 
 
Gately's hugely successful, Wild West-style production of  Don Pasquale (hailed as a "contemporary classic" by the Denver Post)  has been mounted by twelve opera companies in the U.S. and Canada.

Recent Notable Work

La Bohème (Seattle Opera, 2021), director
Turandot (Maryland Lyric Opera, 2022), director
Don Carlos (Maryland Lyric Opera, 2022), director
Macbeth (Maryland Lyric Opera, 2022), director
Samson et Dalila (Seattle Opera 2023), director