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“For a listener, when LEON WILLIAMS, in the title role of the
prophet, makes his solemn entrance in the opening recitative of Elijah, it is as if you're poised at the top of an
epic musical experience...WILLIAMS superbly communicated the text in his clear, expressive baritone. A ighlight was
the resonant warmth he brought to the aria It is Enough.”
-The St. Petersburg Times, March 19, 2010
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”Special
guest was baritone LEON WILLIAMS, and special he certainly was, back for his third appearance in three seasons with the Grand
Rapids Symphony...his brightly burnished baritone rang with authority on carols such as 'The Truth Sent from Above'...Combining
a focused classical sound with a contemporary, relaxed delivery, Williams sets a standard that other crossover singers should
aim to achieve." -The
Grand Rapids Press, December 4, 2009 "LEON WILLIAMS combines a well-burnished baritone with a polished acting style
to create a lively and endearing Figaro." -The
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 2, 2010 |
Carmina Burana with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony:
“...the soloists were excellent. Williams' voice
is burnished and clear from top to bottom, and he brought just the right touch of theatricality. 'Dies, nox et omnia'
was as beautiful as ever, and the droll 'Ego sum abbas' approached performance art."
-The Washington Post, May 5, 2008 |
American baritone Leon Williams
is that rare singer well-versed in classical literature and equally adept at "Pops" programs of spirituals, Holiday
and popular standards and showtunes. He appeared on Broadway and on tour in the musical Ragtime, and last season
performed Christmas concerts with the Grand Rapids Symphony and a New Year's Eve program with the Westfield Symphony.
As a "classical" artist, pieces for which he is especially sought-after include Mendelssohn’s Elijah
(Honolulu Symphony and Florida Orchestra), Orff’s Carmina Burana (Florida Orchestra, Baltimore,
Reading, Alabama, Westchester, Grand Rapids, Jacksonville, Hartford and Colorado Symphonies, National Philharmonic, and at
the Berkshire Choral Festival). In addition he has performed Britten’s War Requiem,
the Mozart and Fauré Requiems and Haydn’s Creation with the Colorado Symphony; Vaughan-Williams’
A Sea Symphony with the Portland and Illinois Symphonies and Florida Orchestra; Fauré’s Requiem
with Raymond Leppard and the Kansas City Symphony; Brahms’ Requiem with the Alabama and Santa Barbara Symphonies;
Haydn’s Il Ritorno di Tobia and Harold Farberman’s War Cry on a Prayer Feather with the American
Symphony Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; Weill’s Lindberghflug with Dennis Russell Davies and
the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; Mahler’s Rückertlieder with Christoph Eschenbach at
Japan’s Sapporo Festival, and the composer’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Eighth Symphony
with Leon Botstein at New York’s Bard Festival; Vaughan-Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the
Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall; Mozart’s Requiem with Joseph Flummerfelt at the Westminster
Festival; Beethoven’s Mass in C at France’s Colmar Festival; and Copland’s Old American Songs
with the Warren Philharmonic, and the Verdi Requiem with David Lockington and the Modesto Symphony. He recently
opened the brand-new concert hall in Amarillo, Texas, performing Lee Hoiby’s I Have a Dream with James Setapen
and the Amarillo Symphony and returned there in 2008-2009 for Walton's Belshazzar's Feast.
Passionately devoted to the art of the song, Mr.Williams has performed
Brahms’ Vier ernste Gesänge with Sarah Rothenberg and the Da Camera Society of Houston (to which he returned
for a special program of the music of Charles Wuorinen, repeated at the Guggenheim under the baton of James Levine); an “Art
of the Spiritual” program at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater; an all-American program at Japan’s Tochigi
Music Festival and Maine’s Arcady Music Festival; and given recitals in Hartford, Pittsburgh, Princeton and throughout
his native New York City, including Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall (the songs of Richard Hundley) and the
92nd Street Y (a much-acclaimed all-Poulenc program with Michel Sénéchal and Dalton Baldwin). Opera credits include Anthony in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (Toledo Opera) and Papageno in Mozart’s Die
Zauberflöte (Hawaii Opera Theatre), both meeting with unanimous critical and public acclaim. A
much-in-demand Porgy and Bess principal, he sang Porgy in with Yuri Temirkanov conducting in St. Petersburg,
Russia; Sportin’ Life with Markand Thakar and the Duluth-Superior Symphony and Jake in the Dallas Opera production.
In summer 2009 he reprised Jake for his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at the Hollywood Bowl under Bramwell Tovey. In
2010 he sang both Mozart's Figaro and Schaunard in Puccini's La Boheme with Hawaii Opera Theatre.
Mr. Williams has won top prizes in the Naumburg, Joy-in-Singing,
and Lola Wilson Hayes Competitions.
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