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Roderick Williams

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Roderick Williams (born 1965) is an English operatic baritone and composer.

Williams was born in North London; his father is Welsh and his mother Jamaican.[1] He studied on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music in London. During his time there he made his operatic debut as Tarquinius in Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia.[2]

He has appeared as a soloist with English National Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera, New Israeli Opera, BBC Proms and at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has also worked with orchestras throughout Europe, including all the BBC orchestras in the UK, and has given recitals at venues such as the Wigmore Hall.[3]

On 13 September 2014 Williams was soloist at the Last Night of the Proms for the first time.[4] In the course of the evening, he performed in the Richard Strauss cantata, Taillefer, sang his own arrangements of two songs, and was the soloist in "Rule Britannia".[5]

He is the president of Junior Saint James Singers (Stratford-Upon-Avon choir) and is married with a son and two daughters.[1]

Operatic repertoire

References

  1. ^ a b Hannah Nepil, "Interview with baritone Roderick Williams before ‘Albert Herring’ at the Barbican", FT.com/Arts, 22 November 2013. Accessed 7 September 2014.
  2. ^ Allmusic Guide biography.
  3. ^ Ingpen & Williams agency website.
  4. ^ "BBC Two - BBC Proms, 2014 Season, Last Night of the Proms - Part 1". BBC. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  5. ^ "BBC Proms 2014: Last Night of the Proms, review: 'soaringly carried away'", The Telegraph, 14 September 2014. Accessed 15 September 2014.
  6. ^ Signum Records biography