Lyric baritone, Adam Hirama Wells has established excellence as a versatile performer across several musical styles.  Wells’ appearances span from opera to musical theater, operetta, art song, and jazz.  Passionate about new works they have had the privilege to workshop, preview, and premier works with composers such as Tom Cipullo, Lori Laitman, and Michael Ching.  Wells has appeared on stage with almost ever historical crossover opera festival including The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Saratoga, Charlottesville Opera, and Central City Opera.  In addition, they have emerged as a budding operetta specialist performing with the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, Ohio Light Opera, and College Light Opera Company.

A multifaceted actor, Wells has appeared as almost every kind of character from the doe-eyed romantic, to the comedic stage animal, to the more sinister villains and antiheroes. Most recently they appeared as the bumbling Baron Zeta in Sarasota Opera’s production of The Merry Widow.  Additional highlights of their roles include Marcello in Puccini’s classic La bohème, The Lord Chancellor in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, and the title role in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. 

Wells received the 2016 Linda Candler Award for Outstanding Opera Student from the Janiec Opera Company where, in the world premiere of Falling Angel by J. Mark Scearce, they were hailed as a, “standout in the solid cast… a bright-voiced baritone and a poignant, innocent presence as the Young Soldier,” by the Wall Street Journal.  Wells is also a 2020 Grand Concours Vocal Competition finalist, 2019 SC District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition, and 2013 winner in classical voice with the National YoungArts Foundation.

In addition to their singing, Wells has often been featured as a dancer, having trained several years in ballet, modern and jazz.  Wells holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Eastman School of Music, as well as an artist diploma from The University of Colorado Boulder.  Wells is a native of Clemson, SC.