Roderick Williams OBE
Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams is one of the most sought after baritones of his generation and performs a wide repertoire from baroque to contemporary music in the opera house, on the concert platform and in recital.
He enjoys relationships with all the major UK opera houses and has sung world premieres of operas by, among others, David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michel van der Aa, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel.
He performs regularly with all the BBC orchestras, and many other ensembles including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Abroad Roderick has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Russian National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Bach Collegium Japan amongst others. His many festival appearances include the BBC Proms (including the Last Night in 2014), Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, Aldeburgh and Melbourne Festivals.
Recent and future opera engagements include Don Alfonso / Cosi fan Tutte, Pollux / Castor and Pollux, Sharpless / Madame Butterfly and baritone soloist in the new production of Britten’s War Requiem all for English National Opera, Van der Aa’s After Life at Melbourne State Theatre, Sharpless for the Nederlandse Reisopera, the title roles of Eugene Onegin for Garsington Opera, Billy Budd for Opera North, Van der Aa’s Upload for Netherlands Opera, Oper Koln, Park Avenue Armory New York and the Bregenz Festival, the Traveller / Death in Venice for Welsh National Opera and Papageno / Die Zauberflöte as well as the title role in Il ritorno di Ulisse for the Royal Opera House. Recent and future concert engagements include concerts with the New World Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Rias Kammerchor, Singapore Symphony, Gabrieli Consort, Sao Paolo Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Music of the Baroque Chicago, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, all of the BBC Orchestras, Bayerische Rundfunk, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
He is also an accomplished recital artist who can be heard at venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall where he has performed all three Schubert cycles, Kings Place, LSO St Luke’s, the Perth Concert Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, London Song Festival, Beethovenhaus, Snape Maltings, Edinburgh Festival, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Concertgebouw and the Musikverein, Vienna. He appears regularly on Radio 3 both as a performer and a presenter.
His numerous recordings include Vaughan Williams, Berkeley and Britten operas for Chandos and an extensive repertoire of English song with pianist Iain Burnside for Naxos. He has recorded the three Schubert cycles for Chandos, an award winning disc of French song with Roger Vignoles for Champs Hill and was a soloist in the award winning recording of Delius’ Mass of Life with the Bergen Philharmonic / Sir Mark Elder.
Roderick Williams is also a composer and has had works premiered at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room, with the Rias Kammerchor and live on national radio. From 2022/23 season he takes the position of Composer in Association of the BBC Singers.
He was Artist in Residence at the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival and is currently ‘singer-in-residence’ for Music in the Round in Sheffield, presenting concerts and leading on dynamic and innovative learning and participation projects that introduce amateur singers, young and old, to performing classical song repertoire. He was Artist in Residence for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra between 2020-22.
He was awarded an OBE for services to music in June 2017 and sang at the Coronation Service of King Charles III in May 2023 and also composed a choral work for the event.
Events
Roderick Williams Composer Workshop: Thursday, November 21, 2024 @ 2 PM, Lang Concert Hall
Swarthmore College Chorus and Garnet Singers with special guest Roderick Williams: Friday, November 22, 2024 @ 8 PM, Lang Concert Hall
Roderick Williams Masterclass: Thursday, February 6, 2025 @ 1pm, Lang Concert Hall
Roderick Williams with Julius Drake: Friday, February 7, 2025 @ 8 PM, Lang Concert Hall
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