WilliamThomas
Representation
About William
A graduate of the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and recipient of a number of major awards, British bass William Thomas is fast making a name for himself as one of today’s most promising young singers.
Highlights in his 2024/25 season include his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich as Colline La bohème, Sparafucile Rigoletto in a return to the English National Opera and his Carnegie Hall debut in Bach's Johannes-Passion with the Orchestra of St Luke's/Bernard Labadie.
Recent appearances have included roles for the Wiener Staatsoper; the Opéra national de Paris; La Scala, Milan; the Glyndebourne and Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festivals and, in concert, the Salzburg Festival with Camerata Salzburg/Manfred Honeck and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra/Dinis Sousa, the BBC Proms with the Britten Sinfonia/David Bates, the Edinburgh Festival with The English Concert/John Butt and with the London Symphony Orchestra/François-Xavier Roth.
Representation
Season Highlights
Video
William Thomas sings Fiesco's aria "A te l'estremo addio...Il lacerato spirito" with pianist Nicholas Ansdell-Evans.
Credit: Opera RaRa
PlayingWilliam Thomas - The Floral Dance (CSOTW, 15th June 2023)
William Thomas performing "The Floral Dance" by Katie Moss during the Song Prize Final of the 2023 Cardiff Singer Of The World competition. Credit: BBC Cardiff Singer of the World
PlayingWilliam Thomas performs ‘La Calunnia’ from Il barbiere di Siviglia
Credit: William Thomas
PlayingWilliam Thomas performs ‘Vous qui faites l’endormie’ Gounod’s Faust
Credit: William Thomas
Playing
Audio
- Mussorgsky: Song of the Flea
- Poulenc: Mazurka
News
Press
Verdi - Rigoletto
English National OperaNov 2024 - Nov 2024Still, the very best voice onstage was that of the youthful bass William Thomas, limning an uncompromising Sparafucile.
- Classical Voice America
- 29 November 2024
They say the devil has the best tunes, and on this occasion he also had the best voice, as William Thomas delivered the finest singing of the evening as an inky-voiced Sparafucile – his low F as he slinks away into the darkness after his first encounter with Rigoletto deserving of the spontaneous applause. Not only was every word crisply enunciated, he used his cavernous bass voice to bring the character vividly to life.
- Music OMH
- 02 November 2024
…the most arresting singing comes from William Thomas
- The Times
- 31 October 2024
...William Thomas’s spivvy assassin Sparafucile… supplies some of the best singing of the night.
- i News
- 31 October 2024
William Thomas as Sparafucile makes the most of few lines, his rich, sepulchral bass vanishing into the darkness
- The Stage
- 31 October 2024
William Thomas was a creepily impressive Sparafucile
- The Guardian
- 31 October 2024
The evening’s most vivid contribution came from bass William Thomas as the assassin Sparafucile. As well as sounding balefully imposing, the singer’s outstanding stagecraft allowed him to command the action even when only half-lit, inhabiting a forbidding stillness whence bled a barely-contained threat of violence
- Bach Track
- 31 October 2024
...the secondary roles shone. And none more so than William Thomas’s hit-man Sparafucile: a classy killer down to the lowest depths of his brushed-velvet bass in the great exchange where Rigoletto perceives his kinship with the hired assassin (“I kill a man with laughter”).
- The Arts Desk
- 31 October 2024
Former ENO Harewood artist, British bass William Thomas as the black-hatted assassin Sparafucile combined vocal resonance and power with a youthful litheness that provided a welcome contrast to older ‘grim reaper’ iterations of the character. His easy corruptibility as a ‘man of honour’ was well combined with the more threatening aspects of the character
- London Unattached
- 31 October 2024
Bayerische Staatsoper 2024/25 season to feature 23 Askonas Holt artists
The Bayerische Staatsoper announced their 2024/25 season over the weekend, with 23 Askonas Holt artists appearing over an even greater number of productions.
Edward Gardner conducts Rusalka which features Asmik Grigorian singing the title role alongside Christine Rice as Jezibaba. Asmik also sings Senta in Der fliegende Holländer.
Following appearances at the opera house last month conducting L'elisir d'amore, Emmanuel Villaume returns next season to lead Madama Butterfly.
Angel Blue returns to Munich as Mimi in La bohème. She’s joined by William Thomas who makes his Bayerische Staatsoper debut singing Colline. Also making house debuts are Sarah Dufresne as Semele in a new production of Die Liebe Der Danae, and Miles Mykkanen as Graf Albert in Die tote Stadt.
Several Askonas Holt sopranos sing leading roles next season. Nicole Car makes a role debut as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera. Rosa Feola sings Micaela in Carmen and Mané Galoyan sings Adina in L’elisir d’amore. Following critically acclaimed performances in the new production of Le Nozze di Figaro this season, Dorothea Röschmann reprises her role of Marcellina.
Recent signing Rachel Willis-Sørensen returns as Elsa in Lohengrin and as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo, appearing alongside Stephen Costello who sings the title role, and Dmitry Belosselskiy as the Inquisitore.
Xabier Anduaga – another recent addition to the AH roster – sings Tonio in a new production of La Fille du Regiment. He also appears as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, a role he also sings this season at the Royal Opera House.
Matthew Rose sings Fasolt in a new production of Das Rheingold and Larissa Diadkova also joins a new production of Die Passagierin singing Bronka alongside Christina Bock as Lisa.
Ensemble members Emily Sierra, Paweł Horodyski and Nikita Volkov appear in a variety of roles, notably with Emily singing Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Hansel in Hänsel und Gretel.
Share This Article
- Xabier Anduaga
- Dmitry Belosselskiy
- Angel Blue
- Christina Bock
- Nicole Car
- Stephen Costello
- Larissa Diadkova
- Sarah Dufresne
- Rosa Feola
- Mané Galoyan
- Edward Gardner
- Asmik Grigorian
- Paweł Horodyski
- Miles Mykkanen
- Christine Rice
- Dorothea Röschmann
- Matthew Rose
- Emily Sierra
- William Thomas
- Emmanuel Villaume
- Nikita Volkov
- Rachel Willis-Sørensen
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