From the Stage to Social Work
Nicholas Davis (second from left) performs in "Porgy and Bess"
Nicholas Davis has always felt most at home on the stage. Throughout his career as a professional opera singer, Davis has transformed himself into a myriad of characters: The Reverend in Blue, Minksman in Flight, Fred McMullin in The Fix. For the past two years the man with the mellifluous voice has been auditioning for the role of a lifetime – a social worker.
On May 9, Davis will take the stage at Credit Union 1 Arena to receive his master’s degree from the Jane Addams College of Social Work. As a member of the Holland Community Opera Fellowship at Opera Omaha four years ago, Davis spent his free time helping clients with art projects who were being treated at social service agencies within the Nebraska city. Davis witnessed the therapeutic nature of art, and after observing how social workers interacted with the clients, he wanted to learn more.
“There was a dedication and passion for their work that inspired me,” Davis said. “So, I arranged to stop singing fulltime in the summer of 2023 and enrolled at Jane Addams that fall.”
Davis immersed himself in his social work education. To do so he felt he needed to experience life both inside and outside the classroom. The JACSW was attractive to Davis due to its focus on field work. Students are provided the opportunity to obtain professional experience at more than 280 agencies, hospitals and schools within the Chicago area to help hone their skills.
With an interest in mental health, Davis elected to perform his field work at Habilitative Systems Inc. (HSI), an organization that specializes in helping individuals with developmental disabilities create a unique social enterprise that teaches them important life skills. The experience, he said, has been “wonderfully eye-opening.
“I offer clinical services to young people involved with the organization’s violence prevention program. I selected this field placement for its history of serving individuals on the west side of Chicago, and since I’ve been there, I have learned a great deal about myself and what it means to work in community mental health.”
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Davis performing in "All is Calm"
Taking Center Stage
Davis’s life has always been filled with music. The church choir in his hometown of Petersburg, Tenn., was filled with family members, and his father, while not in his life as a youngster, was a singer. As a precocious 5-year-old who had never performed before an audience, Davis approached his pastor, who also served as the church’s pianist, and asked to sing, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” a song performed by gospel singer LaShun Pace. He was entranced standing before the congregation and reveled in its reaction. He soon joined the choir, as the group was comprised of children like himself.
In high school, Davis had no intention of joining the choir. But the Spanish class in which he was interested in enrolling in was filled. Choir and horticulture were his only other options. Spanish’s loss was the choir’s gain.
“Once I joined the choir, I felt I found a talent and community that fit me,” he said. “I started taking voice lessons after I won a spot at the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) summer program in tenth grade. GSA changed my life. I didn’t know what opera was before then. I also had never been in a place where queerness was celebrated. I didn’t come out for years after that, but seeing queer kids who were ‘out’ enjoying their craft emboldened me to pursue art.”
Training under voice instructor Dawn Wood, a protege of the great Romanian-born soprano Virginia Zeani, Davis joined a small ensemble in high school. His first solo with the group was a rendition of the Louis Armstrong hit, “What a Wonderful World,” with his first classical solo being Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Call.” The performance was the culminating experience of his training at the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts summer program.
Davis exuded confidence when performing solo or with a small group. That wasn’t so with a musical cast. Knowing of his immense talent, his high school theater instructor tried to persuade him to audition for school musicals, especially as the lead performer in Fiddler on the Roof. Davis felt too intimidated, believing he would be ridiculed as a cast member should he be seen in a musical.
Gospel artists, especially Tramaine Hawkins and the quartet Fairfield Four, influenced Davis’s singing. As with most teenagers, his voice began to change. With his newfound bass-baritone, which has a big booming sound, gospel became difficult to sing, as the genre’s musical arrangements are written predominantly for tenors.
Following high school, Davis enrolled in the University of Kentucky, as it was achieving a reputation for training talented singers and Lexington was near his hometown. Davis’s first role at the school was Papageno in the undergraduate production of The Magic Flute.
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Davis in "Silent Night"
Finding His Voice
“I was in the opera chorus prior to that and high school choirs, but I had no experience singing an entire role on stage,” Davis said. “I loved it. I was a natural. My teacher at the time described me as a stage animal. Papageno is a comedic role, and I really went for it.” Davis also performed regularly in UK’s opera program and with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra.
Professional singing was Davis’s focus, and feeling he needed more experience as a soloist to achieve his ambitions, he entered the University of Michigan’s master’s degree program following his graduation from Kentucky. His first major role, at the age of 23, was as Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro. His dream of earning a living as a singer was now becoming reality, as his performance catapulted him to secure roles on the international stage, traveling and performing in the Czech Republic, Tel Aviv, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Toronto, as well as nationally in New York City, Seattle, Santa Fe, N.M., Detroit, Houston and Chicago, among other locales.
Davis is the only American ever to have won the prestigious international Antonin Dvorak competition (named for the famed Czech composer), and he was a regional finalist in the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He has received prizes from the International Czech and Slovak Competition, the American Opera Society of Chicago, and the Santa Fe Opera. His most memorable performances have been in the production of La fanciulla del West with the Santa Fe Opera, the production of Porgy and Bess with the Seattle Opera, and his recital for the Ambassador of United States to the Czech Republic in Prague.
With his new career as a social worker, Davis’s performances are less frequent, but the curtain will not go down for good. In the summer of 2024, following his first year at JACSW, he performed Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses and in May 2025 he will be performing a modern retelling of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha in Chicago.
Once he receives his diploma, Davis will continue working in community health. He also has a passion for end-of-life care and is interested in gaining experience in hospice social work.
“Wherever I end up, I want my work to center on supporting the lives and efforts of Black and queer people,” Davis said. “Singing has been my life, but I am so fortunate I found social work. I’m excited for my future.”