A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Samuel Kidd, baritone, is establishing himself as a versatile and engaging performer. This season he returns to the prestigious Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera, where he will sing the role of Schaunard in La bohème, in addition to appearances with Opera Naples as Papageno in The Magic Flute. In March, 2025, Samuel was named a National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Last season, Sam made his San Francisco Opera debut singing the roles of Silvano in Un Ballo in Maschera, Morales in Carmen, and Steuermann in Tristan und Isolde. A student of renowned pedagogue Gerald Martin Moore, other recent highlights include Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with the Merola Opera Program, Belcore from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Tarquinius with Yale Opera, and Onegin from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at The Music Academy of the West.
At home on the opera stage, Sam is equally as passionate about art song and recital singing, in particular German Lieder. In the fall of 2023 Sam returned to The New York Festival of Song for their Perennials program. His 2023 performance in the Merola Opera Program’s Metamorphasis recital was praised for its “cohesive blend of caressing phrases and dynamic intensity” (Classical Voice San Francisco). In November 2022 he appeared with the Cincinnati Song Initiative performing Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. In April 2021 he participated in the Caramoor Rising Star program, directed and curated by Steven Blier. He was also featured in the New York Festival of Song online season in September 2020.
Samuel enjoys oratorio and choral singing, having performed the baritone solos in Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s Creation and Mozart’s Requiem with the Plymouth Oratorio Society, and bass solos in Bach’s Mass in B minor and Montiverdi’s 1610 Vespers with Audivi and the Michigan Bach Collective.
When not singing or learning music, Sam loves to try new recipes in the kitchen, play golf or basketball, read political and economic theory, watch classic movies, and relax with his tuxedo cat, Manon.