Will Liverman
Baritone Will Liverman is an unusually versatile singer, performing both mainstream operatic repertory and music rooted in the African American tradition in which he grew up. He has performed in the premieres of several new works.
William Liverman was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in May of 1988, and grew up in nearby Virginia Beach. His father was a Church of God in Christ minister, and he grew up surrounded by gospel music. His introduction to opera came as he attended the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk, and a class trip took him to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Back at the Governor's School, Liverman had the opportunity to participate in concerts, recitals, and even fully staged operas. He attended Wheaton College in Illinois, majoring in music, and he later settled in the Chicago area. Liverman earned a master's degree from the Juilliard School in New York and had further training as a Young Artist at New York's Glimmerglass Festival and Chicago's Ryan Opera Center. Among his specialties is the role of Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, which he has performed at the Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, and Kentucky Opera. Liverman has also performed in such roles as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute (with the Florentine Opera and Central City Opera), Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (at the Colorado Opera), and Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème (at the Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, and Opera Philadelphia).
Liverman has also appeared in many productions of contemporary opera, including those of Nico Muhly's Marnie and Philip Glass' Akhnaten at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the latter marking the company's premiere of the work. He has begun to find roles in new works that draw on African American subjects and traditions, originating the role of jazzman Dizzy Gillespie in Daniel Schnyder's opera Charlie Parker's Yardbird, reprising the role at the English National Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and at the Apollo Theater, among other venues. In fall 2021, he was slated to star at the Met in jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, and to perform later in the season in Akhnaten and The Magic Flute. Liverman has also composed an opera, The Factotum, in collaboration with DJ K-Rico, and is developing it at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and its Ryan Opera Center. He has performed in concert works, including Handel's Messiah (with the Seattle Symphony), Orff's Carmina Burana (with the Virginia Symphony), and Mozart's Mass in C minor, K. 427, with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Liverman made his recording debut in 2020 with Whither Must I Wander, a multinational song recital released on the Odradek label. He moved to the Cedille label in 2021 for Dreams of a New Day: Songs of Black Composers. Liverman has received several important prizes, including the Richard Tucker Career Grant (2019), the Sphinx Medal of Excellence (2019), the Marian Anderson Vocal Award (2020).
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers
Classical - Released by Cedille on Feb 12, 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sisters in Song
Nicole Cabell, Will Liverman, Alyson Cambridge, Lake Forest Symphony, Vladimir Kulenovic
Opera - Released by Cedille on Sep 21, 2018
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Shawn E. Okpebholo: Lord, How Come Me Here?
Will Liverman, J'nai Bridges, Paul Sanchez, Leonardo Altino, Caen Thomason-Redus
Classical - Released by Navona on Feb 11, 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Okpebholo: Steal Away
Will Liverman, Paul Tuntland Sanchez
Classical - Released by Yellow Einstein Records on Dec 13, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Whither Must I Wander
Classical - Released by Odradek Records on Jan 10, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Show Me The Way
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Cedille Records on Mar 8, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Dunbar/Moore Sessions, Vol. I
Classical - Released by Lexicon Classics on Oct 27, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Show Me The Way (Extended Version) (2)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Cedille Records on Mar 8, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Scheme (feat. Gabriella Reyes)
International Pop - Released by 4 Lovers Only Entertainment on Dec 2, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Good-night (feat. Lady Jess)
International Pop - Released by 4 Lovers Only Entertainment on Dec 18, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo