Davóne Tines on agency, repertoire and reshaping opera

In performance Davóne Tines is electrifying. At the Barbican's 2025-26 residency he appeared at the back of the auditorium and slowly descended toward the stage, spotlit and subtly miked; his unaccompanied voice fractured into stentorian booms, spat-out consonants and the crackle of mouth noises.

The New Yorker described him as "changing what it means to be a classical singer". He has been named Musical America’s vocalist of the year, won a 2024 Chanel next prize and received the 2025 Harvard arts medal, yet he is not yet 40. Tines ranges freely across genres, performing spirituals and gospel and working on a project "for a broader ear" with his band the Truth, while treating capital O opera as occasional.

For a Detroit Opera double bill of Kurt Weill and William Grant Still he said he would "happily retake the mental baggage" for a programme about Black American love stories.

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