Jonathon Adams is a Cree-Métis, Two-Spirit baritone from amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, AB). They have appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Tafelmusik, Vox Luminis, B’Rock, and Collegium Vocale Gent, among others. Together with Métis pianist/composer Jesse Plessis, Jonathon forms one half of Duo Nistwayr. Notable recent projects include Tyson Houseman’s experimental opera Askîwan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Mea Culpa with Ballet Vlaanderen, and Against the Grain’s Messiah/Complex. The inaugural artist-in-residence at Early Music Vancouver, Jonathon has led workshops at the Juilliard School, Bard College, McGill, the Universities of Toronto, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Festival Montréal Baroque. Jonathon attended the Royal Academy of Music, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and studied singing with Nancy Argenta and Emma Kirkby.

HANDEL | Messiah | The New York Philharmonic | Masaaki Suzuki, cond. 

“The baritone Jonathon Adams made a singular Philharmonic debut. Adams, who identifies as two-spirit — the term used by Indigenous communities for those who are nonbinary — did not put on airs. Dressed humbly in loose black clothes, they sometimes hunched over their score, almost crumpling into it, before opening their mouth to reveal a magnificently sonorous timbre. Adams enunciated words like a deep-toned voice-over artist and used classic Handelian word painting in the aria “The people that walked in darkness,” adopting a shadowy tone before opening up into resplendent high notes on the word “light.” This was good old-fashioned oratorio style, in which singing is an elevated form of recitation.” – Oussama Zahr, The New York Times

PURCELL | Devotional Songs | Early Music Vancouver

“Adams has a big voice and a fundamentally rich tone, conveying agility and charm with the occasional florid outbursts that enliven Purcell’s otherwise gloomy musings….Adams has a sense of theatre which allows them to communicate with passion and pathos. And Adams’s English diction is impeccable. Adams is able to preserve a melodic line without ever sacrificing the intelligibility of the text.” – David Gordon Duke, Vancouver Sun

“Recovering Roots”: music from the Métis Songbook along with music of Purcell, Marais and Bach | Les Voix Humaines

Through pre-recorded performances and conversation, “Recovering Roots” explored Indigenous Métis music as well as the 17th- and 18th-century cultural exchange with white settlers in what was known as New France. The evening was largely built around the excellent baritone Jonathon Adams, who is of Cree-Métis descent, and who has explored that background more and more in recent years, both personally and in early music practice. Courtesy of the Canadian viol ensemble Les Voix Humaines, Adams joined gambist Susie Napper in the first performance of the program: a suite from the Métis Songbook combining J’ai fait une maitresse and Chant Cri. It was a beautiful introduction to Adams’ sweetly mellow voice and fluency in all the distinctive little twists and turns of the expressive ornamentation….Purcell’s Strike The Viol…showed Adams’ compelling commitment to the nuances of every phrase, and impressive support from the group of viols (Napper, Corriveau, and Felix Deak) and harpsichord (Milnes). – Jarrett Hoffman, ClevelandClassical.com