Mary Elizabeth Williams - Soprano
Mary Elizabeth Williams is an exciting young performer with a "world-class" voice whose career is just beginning.
Already,
she has performed all over Europe and the United States, and has operatic engagements in coming seasons that will expand her repertoire to include the Verdi heroines - roles she was born to sing.
she has performed all over Europe and the United States, and has operatic engagements in coming seasons that will expand her repertoire to include the Verdi heroines - roles she was born to sing.
Mary Elizabeth's mother has always maintained that her daughter started singing before
she could talk, but that might be a slight overstatement. At any rate, Mary Elizabeth started
very early, because of a musical family, nurturing music teachers in school, and a natural
passion for making noise. She was very lucky to be raised in the First Baptist Church of
Philadelphia, where Jon Spong (long-time recital accompanist to acclaimed baritone
Sherrill Milnes) was the organist and choir director. She started singing in the church choir
at the age of ten, and was the only child participant. She was probably quite annoying
to all the grown-ups there, especially the paid professionals, but Ms. Williams credits
those years singing next to trained, talented singers as one of the principal reasons
she is having a career today.
she could talk, but that might be a slight overstatement. At any rate, Mary Elizabeth started
very early, because of a musical family, nurturing music teachers in school, and a natural
passion for making noise. She was very lucky to be raised in the First Baptist Church of
Philadelphia, where Jon Spong (long-time recital accompanist to acclaimed baritone
Sherrill Milnes) was the organist and choir director. She started singing in the church choir
at the age of ten, and was the only child participant. She was probably quite annoying
to all the grown-ups there, especially the paid professionals, but Ms. Williams credits
those years singing next to trained, talented singers as one of the principal reasons
she is having a career today.
Twenty years later, it's hard to judge
just how all the small steps she's taken have
influenced her blossoming career; she feels very
fortunate to have sung and studied at Luther College (Decorah, IA) under the baton of Weston Noble, one of the country's most-beloved choir directors. It was through him that she solidified her love of text and learned how to communicate emotion to her audience. Mary Elizabeth's year-long stint with the Broadway touring company of ShowBoat felt like a huge digression at the time, but she now sees that without it she never would have met her voice teacher, Dr. Constance Haas , or realized that her passion was truly for opera. She went to France in 2002 out of desperation and joined the young artist program at the Opera National de Paris, because she was having trouble finding a place in America to fit in with her immature but impressive Verdian sound. Now she realizes how lucky she was to have a place like Paris to learn and grow (and eat!) for two years, in one of the most respected opera houses in the world.
just how all the small steps she's taken have
influenced her blossoming career; she feels very
fortunate to have sung and studied at Luther College (Decorah, IA) under the baton of Weston Noble, one of the country's most-beloved choir directors. It was through him that she solidified her love of text and learned how to communicate emotion to her audience. Mary Elizabeth's year-long stint with the Broadway touring company of ShowBoat felt like a huge digression at the time, but she now sees that without it she never would have met her voice teacher, Dr. Constance Haas , or realized that her passion was truly for opera. She went to France in 2002 out of desperation and joined the young artist program at the Opera National de Paris, because she was having trouble finding a place in America to fit in with her immature but impressive Verdian sound. Now she realizes how lucky she was to have a place like Paris to learn and grow (and eat!) for two years, in one of the most respected opera houses in the world.
Mary Elizabeth can't wait to begin the 2008/09 season!
It promises to be a year just as exciting as the last. She is thrilled to reprise the role of Leonora with Indianapolis Opera - a role she performed for the first time last season in Kentucky Opera's 2007 production of Il Trovatore.
In October and November, Ms. Williams will be seen with Michigan Opera Theatre as Cilla in Margaret Garner - a recently-penned opera by composer Richard Danielpour and librettist Toni Morrison.
(Mary Elizabeth has secret hopes that she will get to meet Ms. Morrison, because she did her senior thesis on one of her books, and would like the opportunity to gush.)
In the winter, Mary Elizabeth will be performing her very first Toscas with Virginia Opera, and she can't wait to sink her teeth into one of Puccini's most compelling masterpieces!
In seasons beyond 2009, she is very excited to be singing Leonora in Il Trovatore at Seattle Opera, where she was a young artist long ago, and the title role of Aida with the Atlanta Opera.
Mary Elizabeth may be young, but she's been around long enough to have learned this: a singer's greatest joy is singing, and she is grateful that she is given more opportunities every year to indulge herself with her passion.
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