Biography
bass-baritone (Creon/Messenger/Tiresias)
Willard White
Since his operatic debut with the New York City Opera in 1974, WILLARD WHITE (Creon/Messenger/Tiresias) has sung regularly at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Metropolitan Opera; English National Opera; San Francisco Opera; the opera houses of Munich, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Madrid, and Paris; and Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence, and Salzburg festivals. In 1989, he performed the title role in Othello for the Royal Shakespeare Company alongside Ian McKellen. Mr. White’s 2021–22 season includes Monterone in Rigoletto for Opera North and the title roles in Porgy and Bess and Bluebeard’s Castle for Hungarian State Opera.
Recent highlights include the roles of Seneca in L’Incoronazione di Poppea at Vienna State Opera; Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld at English National Opera; Trinity Moses in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Gorjantchikov in From the House of the Dead at Opera National de Paris, Royal Opera House, La Monnaie, and Opéra National de Lyon; and Commendatore in Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House.
In concert, Mr. White sings regularly with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, La Scala, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and Berlin Philharmonic, and he has appeared many times at the BBC Proms, including the First and Last Night of the Proms. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 2001. He was awarded the CBE in 1995 and was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2004.
Recent highlights include the roles of Seneca in L’Incoronazione di Poppea at Vienna State Opera; Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld at English National Opera; Trinity Moses in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Gorjantchikov in From the House of the Dead at Opera National de Paris, Royal Opera House, La Monnaie, and Opéra National de Lyon; and Commendatore in Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House.
In concert, Mr. White sings regularly with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, La Scala, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and Berlin Philharmonic, and he has appeared many times at the BBC Proms, including the First and Last Night of the Proms. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 2001. He was awarded the CBE in 1995 and was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2004.
