Michael Ballam
Encyclopedia
Michael Ballam is the general director of the Utah Festival Opera
, a professor of music at Utah State University
, an accomplished operatic singer, pianist and oboist. His professional operatic and recital career has spanned nearly three decades and four continents. Ballam, a native of Logan, Utah
, has performed in the major concert halls in America, Europe, Asia and the Soviet Union, with command performances at the Vatican and the White House. His operatic repertoire includes more than 600 performances of over 70 major roles. He has shared the stage with the world's greatest singers, including Joan Sutherland
, Kiri Te Kanawa
, and Placido Domingo
, performing regularly with companies such as the Chicago Lyric, San Francisco
, Santa Fe
, Dallas
, St. Louis, Kennedy Center and San Diego
Operas. At the age of 24 he became the youngest recipient of a Doctor of Music with Distinction in the history of Indiana University
. He is well known for his strong support of musical arts in Cache Valley
, Utah
.
Ballam has released music CDs of him singing with his children.
He starred in the 1969 suspenseful family movie Clubhouse Detectives about some children who set out to solve a neighborhood murder.
Ballam is frequently asked to hold lectures nationwide on the creative arts, more specifically music, and their interaction with the functions of the mind, their use in enhancing education, and as sources of therapy and motivation. His lectures are highly popular.
He also lectures on the relationship of music and the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he has been a life-long member. The church created a position of "musical missionary-at-large" specifically for him.
Utah Festival Opera
The Utah Festival Opera is an opera company based in Logan, Utah. The company performs four fully staged works with orchestra in repertory every July and August at the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Logan's Main Street...
, a professor of music at Utah State University
Utah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
, an accomplished operatic singer, pianist and oboist. His professional operatic and recital career has spanned nearly three decades and four continents. Ballam, a native of Logan, Utah
Logan, Utah
-Layout of the City:Logan's city grid originates from its Main and Center Street block, with Main Street running north and south, and Center east and west. Each block north, east, south, or west of the origin accumulates in additions of 100 , though some streets have non-numeric names...
, has performed in the major concert halls in America, Europe, Asia and the Soviet Union, with command performances at the Vatican and the White House. His operatic repertoire includes more than 600 performances of over 70 major roles. He has shared the stage with the world's greatest singers, including Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
, Kiri Te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, and Placido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, performing regularly with companies such as the Chicago Lyric, San Francisco
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
, Dallas
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
, St. Louis, Kennedy Center and San Diego
San Diego Opera
The San Diego Opera Association is a professional opera company located in the city of San Diego, California and is a member of OPERA America. It was founded in 1950 to present productions by San Francisco Opera in the San Diego area...
Operas. At the age of 24 he became the youngest recipient of a Doctor of Music with Distinction in the history of Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
. He is well known for his strong support of musical arts in Cache Valley
Cache Valley
The Cache Valley is an agricultural valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of the 1863 Bear River Massacre.-History:...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Ballam has released music CDs of him singing with his children.
He starred in the 1969 suspenseful family movie Clubhouse Detectives about some children who set out to solve a neighborhood murder.
Ballam is frequently asked to hold lectures nationwide on the creative arts, more specifically music, and their interaction with the functions of the mind, their use in enhancing education, and as sources of therapy and motivation. His lectures are highly popular.
He also lectures on the relationship of music and the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he has been a life-long member. The church created a position of "musical missionary-at-large" specifically for him.