“Mr. Williams unleashed the full power of his clear and incisive tone… superbly on his own terms.”

-The New York Times

Jeremy Knowles

 

Bass-baritone Douglas Williams has, in the last few seasons, made a name for himself in several leading roles, including Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Don Giovanni with Opera Atelier conducted by David Fallis, and Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Barbara Hannigan and the Munich Philharmonic, all to great acclaim. This season he continues his collaboration with Ms. Hannigan in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, with L’Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France, and a new production of Jonathan Dove’s monodrama, The Other Euridice. Mr. Williams has also made an impression in smaller roles with major conductors, including Sciarrone in Tosca with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic for Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and Priest/Armed Man with Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Die Zauberflöte for Deutsche Grammophon with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Mr. Williams is “a lively mover” on stage (New York Times), and with this ability he has appeared in choreographic opera productions from distinguished choreographers, including Acis and Galatea of Mark Morris for Lincoln Center, and Orfeo of Sasha Waltz for the Dutch National Opera. With the choreographer Andreas Heise and the pianist Jonathan Ware he is currently creating a choreographic Die Schöne Müllerin for himself and three dancers. In chamber music Mr. Williams has appeared with Igor Levitt and the Jack Quartet at the Tanglewood Festival for Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon, with the Signal Ensemble in the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s It Happens Like This for the Guggenheim Museum, and recently as a guest recitalist with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. In November 2020 Mr. Williams will be joined by the pianist Levi Hammer for a song recital at the Salzburg Mozarteum, presenting the world premiere of a new song cycle by the British composer Iain Bell. In concert music Williams has appeared with the National  Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), the Nashville Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Radio Philharmoniker, the Detroit Symphony, the Houston Symphony, and Les Talens Lyriques, with conductors Trevor Pinnock, Nicholas McGegan, Andrew Manze, and Pablo Heras-Casado, among others. He trained at the New England Conservatory and the Yale School of Music.