Ryan McAdams has something to say. That’s what he told his instructor at Juilliard when asked why he wanted to be a conductor—the only answer that was deemed acceptable. The native St. Louisan and Clayton High School grad (2000) has reached a level in his career worthy of his upbringing. A self-proclaimed ‘opera brat,’ McAdams spent his childhood in the wings of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis watching his mom sing in the ensemble; his dad was a theater director. Now living in a beautiful apartment in Brooklyn, traveling the globe as a world-renowned conductor and preparing for his upcoming wedding, McAdams is reveling in his happiness—and is more than eager to credit St. Louis and its beloved opera presenter for shaping his musical career. He returns home to open the summer season of Opera Theatre as conductor for The Barber of Seville.
T&S | You grew up in a very theatrical family. How did that influence you?
Ryan McAdams | I was constantly surrounded by singers. My mom, Carol Bell, is an opera singer and vocal teacher; she still has a studio in Clayton. I started piano around the age of 10 and would accompany for her studio classes and performances, so I got my hands around a huge operatic repertoire at a young age. My father, Jerry McAdams, ran a theater company and was a founding member of the Kevin Kline Awards, so I also acted all the time. Eventually I had to choose between becoming an actor or a musician, but it was never much of a choice.
T&S | What did you study in college?
RM | I received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Indiana University in 2004 and a master’s in orchestral conducting from Juilliard in 2006. At Indiana, I organized my own concerts and reading sessions; I could get a 50-piece orchestra together on a Sunday night for pizza, and we would play for hours. That’s how I started learning how to conduct.
T&S | What about conducting interested you?
RM | I just always wanted to be a conductor; it was never a conscious decision. I wanted to be someone in the pit who was not only working with the singers and allowing them to perform to the best of their ability, but also channeling that performance through an orchestra. And it’s theater, so there was no hope! I wanted to focus on opera, but right out of Juilliard, I became music director of the New York Youth Symphony, which is all symphonic literature. But I embraced it with open arms, and it allowed me to navigate other fields throughout my career.
T&S | You studied in Sweden under the famed Alan Gilbert as a Fulbright Scholar and are equally prized around the world as a symphonic, operatic and contemporary music conductor. Is the fact that you’re so young and accomplished abnormal for the profession?
RM | (laughing) All conductors are abnormal! I was lucky to have two things: one, an absolute insatiable desire to be around music every day; two, a profound sense of gratitude that I was given so much education in such deluges from the time I was really young.
T&S | How does it feel to come back to St. Louis?
RM | It’s very meaningful and emotional. St. Louis nurtured me as a musician. It gave me an environment to experience every part of music making—and on such an extraordinarily high level, which I didn’t appreciate until I came back. I credit the teachers at Clayton High School for my development. My mom and I would attend rehearsals at the St. Louis Symphony from when I was 4 until 18, and I feel an enormous sense of gratitude for that. The city taught me what theater and music and singing was. I have a good career, but nothing beats the validation and gratitude of coming home and being able to give back to a community that nourished me.
T&S | What makes Opera Theatre such a world-class program?
RM | It is the perfect size for its repertoire and season, and it has an openness to the community it serves that is effortless and that many other companies struggle to create. It has developed trust over the last decade about the standard of the performances: The singers are dynamic and consistently open to engagement from the audience. What I loved about coming back two years ago for Pirates of Penzance was how many people reached out to me and said Opera Theatre’s summer season is an essential part of their year, like The Rep or the Cardinals. It’s not a splurge or an experiment. It’s wonderful to be part of that. I love going out to the tent and celebrating with the amazing confluence of guests and artists.
T&S | Do you have any favorite local spots?
RM | Pappy’s! I immediately have to go there; my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. My father is a good cook, so we’ll go to Soulard to get fresh ingredients to cook together. I always make a pilgrimage to my middle school and high school and take my brother to the Moolah to see a movie. And my father has a lake home in Leasburg, Missouri, so I go out there for a few days to detox!
Photo: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
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