Will Liverman & Jonathan King
Biography Will Liverman & Jonathan King
Will Liverman
Called “one of the most versatile singing artists performing today” (Bachtrack), baritone Will Liverman is quickly gaining a reputation for his compelling performances, while making significant debuts at opera houses across the world. Liverman is a recipient of a 2019 Richard Tucker Career Grant and Sphinx Medal of Excellence.
In the 2019-20 season, Liverman returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Papageno in its holiday production of The Magic Flute, in addition to singing the role of Horemhab in the Met’s premiere of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten. He also appears as Pantalone in The Love of Three Oranges at Opera Philadelphia, as Marcello in La bohème at Seattle Opera, and as Silvio in Pagliacci at Opera Colorado and Portland Opera, in addition to performing Schubert’s Die Winterreise at The Barns at Wolf Trap Opera.
Recent engagements include Liverman’s Metropolitan Opera debut as Malcolm Fleet in Nico Muhly’s Marnie and appearances with Tulsa Opera as The Pilot in The Little Prince; with Opera Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, and Dallas Opera as Schaunard in La bohème; and with Santa Fe Opera as the Foreman at the Mill in Jenůfa.
Liverman has performed the leading role of Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, Kentucky Opera, Madison Opera and Utah Opera. He originated the role of Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with Opera Philadelphia, in addition to performing the role with English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison Opera, and at the Apollo Theater. Other recent highlights include the role of Tommy McIntyre in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Fellow Travelers for its Lyric Unlimited initiative; Papageno in The Magic Flute with Florentine Opera and Central City Opera; his role debut as Marcello in La bohème with Portland Opera; his debut with Seattle Opera as Raimbaud in Le Comte Ory; Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia and Beaumarchais in The Ghosts of Versailles with Wolf Trap Opera; Andrew Hanley in the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ The Manchurian Candidate with Minnesota Opera; Sam in The Pirates of Penzance with Atlanta Opera; the Husband in Les mamelles de Tirésias with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago; the Protestant Minister in Menotti’s The Last Savage with Santa Fe Opera; and Mr. Noye in Noye’s Fludde as a guest artist at Wheaton College.
Expanding into the concert repertoire, Liverman performed the title role in a concert version of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and was a featured soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, in Handel’s Messiah with the Seattle Symphony, in Carmina Burana with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, in Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the South Dakota Symphony, and at the New York Festival of Song, in addition to returning to his alma mater Wheaton College as part of the Artist Concert Series together with tenor Lawrence Brownlee.
Liverman previously received a 2017 3Arts Award, a George London Award, and was recognized as a classical division Luminarts Fellow by the Luminarts Cultural Foundation. In 2015, he won the Stella Maris International Vocal Competition, received the Gerda Lissner Charitable Fund Award, and received a top prize from Opera Index. He was a grand finalist in the 2012 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, and additionally was a three-time first prize winner of the Chicago National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition, first prize winner in the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, a grand prize winner of the Bel Canto Foundation Competition, a recipient of a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, and a top award winner from the William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation.
Liverman concluded his tenure at the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2015. He previously was a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival. He holds his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College in Illinois.
