Roderick Williams
Baritone Roderick Williams began to establish his operatic career in the mid-'90s. A Mozart specialist at first, he has developed a varied repertory and has also written a substantial body of music for chorus and piano.
Williams was born in 1965 in London. His father was of Welsh background, his mother Jamaican. He attended Oxford University as a choral scholar and then took a job as a music teacher. It was not until he was 28 that he began to study operatic singing full-time at the Guildhall School of Music in London. While a student there, he made his debut in Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia as Tarquinius, and he has continued to sing several major Britten roles regularly. Major prizes in the early '90s -- a top prize at the Great Grimsby International Singing Competition in 1992, a second prize in the 1994 Kathleen Ferrier Competition, and others -- put him on the map, and he began to land major roles, at first, especially in northern Britain. He sang the Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Opera North in Leeds in 1998 and sang a series of roles, from Mozart to Puccini, at the Scottish Opera. Williams' international debut came in Israel, in Massenet's Werther, in 1998. He has since appeared in many international houses, often in concert performances of operas. He has been a fixture at the Proms concerts since the mid-'90s. In 2002, Williams made his recording debut with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly on Voices: Volume 1, a collection of songs by Schoenberg, on the Black Box Classics label.
Williams is an accomplished recitalist, and his own choral compositions have been performed at the Barbican, Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, and other prestigious British venues. In 2016, he became the president of the venerable Three Choirs Festival Society, and the following year, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 2020, he became president of the Thames Concerts series in London. Williams has a large catalog of recordings on Naxos, Champs Hill, Signum, and other labels; in the year 2017 alone, he appeared on seven separate recordings and on six in 2021. The year 2022 saw Williams release Mirages: The Art of French Song with accompanist Roger Vignoles on the Champs Hill label, and he appeared on the fourth and final volume of a series on the Albion label devoted to the folk song settings of Ralph Vaughan Williams. By that time, he had issued some 60 recordings on which he was a featured artist, and he had credits on many others.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Bridge: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5
Richard Hickox, BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Roderick Williams
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Sep 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The House of Life (Orchestrated by Roderick Williams): No. 1, Love-sight
Halle, Sir Mark Elder, Roderick Williams
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Halle Concerts Society on Oct 14, 2022
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Moeran: Complete Solo Songs
Roderick Williams, Geraldine McGreevy, Adrian Thompson, John Talbot, Weybridge Male Voice Choir
Mélodies - Released by Chandos on May 1, 2010
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Brahms: Romanzen Aus Die Schone Magelone, Vier Ernste Gesänge
Roderick Williams, Roger Vignoles
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Signum Records on Mar 24, 2017
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Harrison Birtwistle: Chamber Music
Lisa Batiashvili, Adrian Brendel, Till Fellner, Amy Freston, Roderick Williams
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on Apr 4, 2014
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Delius: A Mass of Life, RT II/4, Pt. 1: II. Erhebt eure Herzen, Brüder, hoch! (Recitativ)
Sir Mark Elder, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Roderick Williams
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on Oct 27, 2023
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The Wanderer Speaks to the Moon, D. 870
Christopher Glynn, Roderick Williams
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Signum Records on Sep 27, 2023
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Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad (Orchestrated by Roderick Williams): No. 6, Is my team ploughing?
Halle, Sir Mark Elder, Roderick Williams
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Halle Concerts Society on Oct 28, 2022
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John Pickard: Vocal Works
Roderick Williams, Eve Daniell, Simon Lepper
Classical - Released by Toccata Classics on Nov 3, 2017
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Saxton: The Wandering Jew
Roderick Williams, Tim Mirfin, BBC Symphony Orchestra, André de Ridder
Opera - Released by NMC Recordings on Jun 13, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: The Starlight Express
Sir Andrew Davis, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Elin Manahan Thomas, Roderick Williams, Simon Callow
Theatre Music - Released by Chandos on Nov 1, 2012
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The Joy of Earth (Orchestrated by Roderick Williams)
Halle, Sir Mark Elder, Roderick Williams
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Halle Concerts Society on Oct 7, 2022
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Da Vinci Requiem: VII. Lux Aeterna
Wimbledon Choral, Roderick Williams, Kate Royal
Classical - Released by Signum Records on Mar 7, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Horovitz: Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo
Roderick Williams, City of London Choir, Hilary Davan Wetton
Classical - Released by Orchid Classics on Apr 12, 2024
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Light and Love, D. 352
Christopher Glynn, Roderick Williams, Rowan Pierce
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Signum Records on Oct 25, 2023
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A Poet’s Love, Op. 48: No. 1, In May, the sweetest time of year
Roderick Williams, Christopher Glynn
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Signum Records on Feb 7, 2024
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Le Bal masqué, FP60: III. Malvina
Roderick Williams, Mark Bebbington
Classical - Released by Resonus Classics on Apr 9, 2021
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3 Songs from Ethiopia Boy (Live)
Roderick Williams, Chineke! Orchestra, Eduardo Portal
Classical - Released by NMC Recordings on Jan 17, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dylan
Michael Stimpson, Roderick Williams, Sioned Williams
Chamber Music - Released by Horus Music Limited on Apr 15, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Private Joe: II. And When I Die
Sacconi Quartet, Roderick Williams
Classical - Released by Signum Records on Apr 22, 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Pulley (Orchestrated by Roderick Williams)
Halle, Sir Mark Elder, Roderick Williams
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Halle Concerts Society on Oct 21, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo