Roderick Williams

Roderick Williams is one of the most in-demand baritones of his generation with a wide repertoire spanning Baroque to contemporary that he performs in opera, concert, and recital.

He enjoys relationships with all the major UK opera houses and has sung opera world premieres by Michel van der Aa, David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel, as well as performing major roles including Papageno, Don Alfonso, Onegin, and Billy Budd.

He performs regularly with leading conductors and orchestras throughout the UK, Europe, North America and Australia, and his many festival appearances include the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, and Melbourne.

As a composer, he has had works premiered at Wigmore Hall, the Barbican, and the Purcell Room, and on national radio. In December 2016, he won the prize for Best Choral Composition at the British Composer Awards. From 2022–23 season, he takes the position of Composer in Association of the BBC Singers

Williams was awarded an OBE in June 2017 and was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Opera in both the 2018 Olivier Awards for his performance in the title role of the Royal Opera House production of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and in 2019 for his role in ENO’s production of Britten’s War Requiem. He was Artist in Residence with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 2020–21 for two years and is Artist in Residence at the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival.