EDWIN JHAMAAL DAVIS
BASS
BIOGRAPHY
Praised by opera critic Voce di Meche for his “juicy, booming and room-filling bass” accompanied by “mesmerizing, fully immersed acting,” basso profondo Edwin Jhamaal Davis has quickly established himself as an artist on the rise. Last season, Mr. Davis returned to Carnegie Hall in Mozart’s Requiem and sang the bass solo in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Mainly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. In addition, he made his New Orleans Opera début as Angelotti in Tosca, returned to Seattle Opera as the Second Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte, and sang The Commander in the Off-Broadway production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni – A Rock Opera. This season, Mr. Davis sings the bass solo in Verdi’s Requiem with Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and New Orleans Opera, and he makes his role and house débuts as Basilio in Knoxville Opera’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Recently, Mr. Davis made his house débuts in X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X with The Metropolitan Opera as Garvey Preacher and with Seattle Opera as Bass 2, a role he reprised in the previous season with Opera Omaha. He also joined First Coast Opera, Amelia Island Opera, Opera Montana, and Opera Memphis for Colline in La bohème. He joined Opera Grand Rapids as the King in Aida, performed as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah for Danbury Symphony, made his Carnegie Hall début as the bass soloist for Verdi’s Requiem with Masterworks Chorus, and was a Glynn Studio Artist with The Atlanta Opera, where he appeared in such roles as Masetto in Don Giovanni. He was previously a member of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Opera Program where he performed Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, as well as excerpts from Macbeth as Banquo. Previous engagements include Bass 2 in X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X for Detroit Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto for the Florentine Opera, the bass soloist in What Lies Beneath for On Site Opera, and Uncle Wesley in Night Trip for Portland Opera. He toured with the American Spiritual Ensemble, sang the world premiere of Brother Nat: Rise, Revolt, Redemption in the role of Will at the Boston Paramount Theatre, and was a featured soloist in the symphonic premiere of Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color, a musical work inspired by the photographic artistry of Andrew Feiler and composed by Doug Hooker for the National Civil Rights Museum. Edwin also joined Portland Opera as a Resident Artist for the 2020-21 season.
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Edwin made his professional début with Opera Mississippi as Simone in Gianni Schicchi. He is an alumnus of Jackson State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology Pre-Medicine with dual minors in Chemistry and Music. He received his master’s degree from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music where he studied with acclaimed baritone Mark Oswald and performed such roles as Wurm in Verdi's Luisa Miller, Osmin in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, and covered Reverend Olin Blitch in Susannah. He has appeared as guest soloist at various national venues such as Pompano Beach Orchestra's Messiah, Bronx Concert Singers’ winter and spring programs, and St. Mark’s presentation of Messiah.
Mr. Davis was the National First Place Winner of the Marian Anderson Vocal Arts Scholarship hosted by the National Association of Negro Musicians in its centennial celebration. He was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Eastern Region, and he became one of the first African Americans to claim one of the top two prizes in Opera Columbus’s Cooper-Bing Vocal Competition. He is a proud native of Utica, MS.
Current as of June 25, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"His booming room-filling voice..." – Voce di Meche
Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail – "Bass Edwin Davis impressed us with his portrayal of the comically nasty Osmin, servant to the Pasha. He so immersed himself in the role that it never seemed like acting. It would have been a mesmerizing performance if he had never sung a note; but his booming room-filling voice was marvelously employed to serve the role. The difficult third aria "Ha, wie will ich triumphieren" contains some of the lowest notes in the bass repertory and he nailed them."
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"a focused, resonant, deliciously dark sound..." – Elaine Schmidt, Journal Sentinel
Sparafucile in Rigoletto – "Bass Edwin Davis brought a focused, resonant, deliciously dark sound to the role of Sparafucile ... using that sound as the core of a dark-hearted character."
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"chilling basso notes" – Urban Milwaukee
Sparafucile in Rigoletto – "In a large cast of capable singers, there were some standouts: The chilling basso notes of Edwin Davis as the assassin Sparafucile..."