Michael Ching

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Michael Ching (born September 29, 1958) is an American composer, conductor, and music administrator. He is best known for his operas, many of which he also writes the librettos for. One of his most notable works is A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an entirely a cappella adaptation from 2011 that uses a “voicestra” of 15 to 20 singers. Other major operas include Buoso’s Ghost (1996), Corps of Discovery (2003), Slaying the Dragon (2012), Speed Dating Tonight! (2013), Alice Ryley (2015), and Notes on Viardot (2024).

Ching is recognized as one of the top 10 most-produced living North American opera or music-theater composers. He serves on the board of the National Opera Association and leads the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera, which supports new opera creators. He has also been Music Director at several companies, including Nickel City Opera (2012–2017) and Amarillo Opera (2016–2020).

Early life and education
Ching was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up in New Orleans and Saint Paul, Minnesota. His father was a talented amateur pianist and a college professor. He began piano at age six and also studied flute, violin, and oboe to help with composition. He started composing as a child and studied at Interlochen in high school. He earned a composition scholarship to Duke University, where he studied with Robert Ward and Iain Hamilton and graduated in 1980. His senior project was a one‑act opera set in New Orleans.

Career
Ching began his professional career as a National Opera Institute apprentice at the Houston Grand Opera Studio (1980–1981) and then worked in various leadership and conducting roles at opera companies such as Greater Miami Opera/Florida Grand Opera, Texas Opera Theatre, Chautauqua Opera, and Triangle Music Theater. He later served as Assistant to the General Director at Virginia Opera and then as Associate Artistic Director.

In 1992 he became Artistic Director (and for many years also General Director) of Opera Memphis, a position he held until 2010. He and his wife Barbara moved to Iowa in 2010 when she took a university post, and he shifted toward writing and freelance work. He later held leadership roles with other companies and remains active as a composer, conductor, and librettist.

A typical Ching project
Ching has written the librettos for many of his operas, especially after 2012. He has created a large body of work ranging from small, one-act operas to full-scale productions. His early operas include Levees (1980) and Cocks Must Crow (1985), with the latter based on a story by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Leo: Opera in One Cat (1985) is a short, jazzy piece about a man and his cat. Cue 67 (1992) mixes different musical styles and has a libretto by Sandra Bernhard.

Two one-act operas with Hugh Moffatt, written in the 1990s, deal with serious contemporary topics: King of the Clouds (1993) about alcoholism and broken families, and Out of the Rain (1998) about social pressures, teen suicide, and AIDS. Buoso’s Ghost, a comic sequel to Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, premiered in 1996 and has been staged widely since.

Other notable works include Faith, an opera based on a James Patrick Kelly story; Corps of Discovery, a three-act opera about the Lewis and Clark expedition; and many more modern pieces. Speed Dating Tonight!, a one-act comic opera, is highly adaptable and has been widely performed. Alice Ryley, Anna Hunter, the Spirit of Savannah, Birthday Clown, Thriver, Seven Woods and a Van, Completing the Picture, Remove Shoes Before Entering, and Dinner 4 3 are among his later works, each exploring different stories and themes.

Notes on Viardot, a three-act opera about the 19th‑century mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, premiered at the University of South Dakota in 2024. Hazel Miner, a 2025 project about a North Dakota girl, is another recent work. In addition to composing, Ching continues to conduct and oversee opera programs.

Personal life
Ching moved to Ames, Iowa, in 2010 because of his wife Barbara’s job, and as of 2025 they live in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He remains active in composing, conducting, and supporting new opera through various organizations.