Called “a voice for this historic moment” (The Washington Post), GRAMMY® Award-winning baritone Will Liverman has been described as “a gifted chameleon of a singing actor who disappears into his roles” (Opera Magazine) with a “beaming, high baritone that easily asserts” (LA Times). Will Liverman has been praised internationally for his versatility in dramatic and comedic operatic roles and his dedication and vision as a composer, artist, and advisor, helping to evolve and push the performing arts industry forward. He is co-creator of The Factotum – praised as “mic-drop fabulous good” (Opera News) – which premiered in a sold-out production at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2023.
Recent and upcoming highlights include an appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival, Le nozze di Figaro at Washington National Opera and Pearl Fishers with Washington Concert Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Houston Grand Opera, Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony and Music of the Baroque, Bernstein’s Mass with Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Die Zauberflöte at Santa Fe Opera and the St. Louis Symphony, and more. Volume II and a special edition CD vinyl release of his The Dunbar/Moore Sessions are slated for release in summer 2025, featuring performances by Will Liverman alongside Joshua Blue, Jacqueline Echols, Lady Jess, Mykal Kilgore, Isabel Leonard, Erin Morley, Adam Richardson, Lindsey Sharpe, and Ann Toomey.
Following summer 2024 appearances at the BBC Proms, Tanglewood, and Aspen Music Festival, Will Liverman’s 2024-2025 season included a reprise of his iconic role of Papageno in the Metropolitan Opera’s holiday presentation of The Magic Flute and a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Marcello in La bohème and Dutch National Opera as Ned Keene in Peter Grimes. Concert engagements included Kaija Saariaho’s Sombre at Carnegie Hall with the International Contemporary Ensemble; Carmina Burana with the San Francisco Symphony; Jenufa with The Cleveland Orchestra; performances with the London Symphony Orchestra led by Sir Antonio Pappano; works by Burleigh, Vaughan Williams, and Still in a recital at The Concertgebouw; works by Schubert, Burleigh, and Larsen with the Oxford International Song Festival; Brahms’ Requiem with the Rhode Island Philharmonic; Shawn Okpebholo’s Two Black Churches and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Oakland Symphony; a song cycle of his own compositions at National Sawdust; New York Festival of Song at Kaufman Music Center; and String Theory at the Hunter.
Lyric Opera of Chicago presented the world premiere of Will Liverman’s new opera, The Factotum, in 2023, which he starred in and composed with DJ King Rico. Inspired by Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Will Liverman and DJ King Rico place the story in a present-day Black barbershop on Chicago’s South Side, celebrating the strength of community and power of the human spirit in a soul opera that “offers a chameleonic pastiche of soul, funk, and classical elements that is incredibly effective” (Opera News).
In the 2023-2024 season, Will Liverman starred in the title role of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at The Metropolitan Opera, inspiring The Wall Street Journal to write “[this is] the best I’ve ever heard him.” Anthony Davis’ groundbreaking and influential work marked the third opera by a Black composer in the company’s history and was conducted by Kazem Abdullah in its newly revised score. The season also featured the world premiere of Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse at Opera Philadelphia (“mellifluous baritone and grounded stage presence” – Parterre Box) and took on the role of Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette at The Metropolitan Opera (he “lit up his scenes with a richly textured, mettlesome baritone” – The New York Times). In concert, he joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, The Washington Chorus, Tanglewood, Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, Nu Deco Ensemble, Experiential Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, plus Dayton Opera, Caramoor, Cincinnati Song Initiative, and Ithaca College for vocal recitals. He served as Artistic Advisor for Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall.
In a “breakout performance” (The New York Times) opening the Met’s 2021/2022 season, Will Liverman headlined the widely celebrated Fire Shut Up In My Bones by Terence Blanchard, which won the 2023 GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording. He later reprised the role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in a “rich leading performance” (Chicago Tribune), described as a “beautifully vocalized… gripping portrayal” (Opera News).
Cedille Records released Will Liverman’s Show Me The Way with pianist Jonathan King in March 2024. Hailed as a “glorious” (BBC Music) and “spellbinding” (San Francisco Classical Voice) celebration of American female composers from 20th-century trailblazers Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Amy Cheney Beach to present-day composers commissioned for this program, it featured guest performances by Renée Fleming, J’Nai Bridges, Nicole Cabell, Lady Jess, Tahirah Whittington, and Terry Liverman and was nominated for the 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
