Douglas Williams

Bass-Baritone

Douglas Williams is one of the most appealing singing actors of his generation. He has collaborated with leading conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Nicholas McGegan, Helmut Rilling, Sir Neville Marriner, John Nelson, and Christoph Rousset, in such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Stuttgart’s Mozart-Saal, and the Frankfurt Alte Oper. His repertoire reaches over four centuries, being a sought-after interpreter of Monteverdi, Handel, Bach, and Mozart, in addition to the romantic and modern eras.

Recent operatic highlights include the role of Sciarrone in Tosca with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmoniker at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Barbara Hannigan with the Munich Philharmonic and at the Royal Concertgebouw and Philharmonie de Paris, and his debut as Figaro with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony in a new production by Robin Guarino. His also performed Sciarrone in his Boston Symphony debut at Tanglewood under Andris Nelsons. He appears regularly with Opera Atelier, most recently the title role in Marriage of Figaro and as Antinoo in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patri. He has performed the role of Caronte in Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo with Sash Waltz and Guests and conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and was also highly acclaimed as “Polyphemus” in the world premiere Mark Morris Dance Group production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea, (he recorded the work in 2015 with Boston Early Music Festival). For Mr. Williams’ 19/20 season, he returns to Opera Atelier as the title character in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and performs roles with Opera Lafayette (John Blow’s Venus and Adonis), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (Leclair’s Scylla et Glaucus), and Les Talens Lyriques (Handel’s Agrippina).

Mr. Williams’ “superb sense of drama” (The New York Times) is as apparent on the concert stage as it is in opera. Recent highlights include the American premiere of Scarlatti’s La gloria di primavera at Carnegie Hall and California’s Orange County and Bay Area with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and conductor Nicholas McGegan; baroque programs with Les Talens Lyriques in Paris, Versailles, and Oslo; a performance at Carnegie Hall of Charles Wuorinen’s It Happens Like This with the MET Chamber Ensemble; and Messiah with Nashville, Detroit, Houston, and National Symphonies. Highlights of the 19/20 season include a series of concerts with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and  Messiah with the New Jersey Symphony.

Mr. Williams is featured on the recording of Scarlatti’s La gloria di primavera released on the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra’s label in April 2016. His recording of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers with Boston Early Music Festival won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

Mr. Williams trained at the New England Conservatory and the Yale School of Music. Raised in Farmington, Connecticut, he now lives in Berlin.

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