BIOGRAPHY

American baritone Jorell Williams, praised for his “solid vocal core and easy, natural production” (Opera News) and his “deliciously resonant baritone voice” (Broadway World), has been celebrated as “a rock-solid singer with a keen understanding of his own expressive depths” (The Washington Post). He continues to grace many of the world’s world-class opera and concert stages. In the 2025–2026 season, Mr. Williams makes his company debut in Der Rosenkavalier with New Orleans Opera, followed by his debut as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro in his return to Indianapolis Opera. He joins Tapestry Opera for the Canadian premiere of Rene Orth’s award-winning 10 Days in a Madhouse (co-production with Opera Philadelphia), and appears in recital with the Cincinnati Art Song Initiative for an evening of German Lied and Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes. 

 

Past operatic engagements include the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel with Lincoln Center Theater (in co-production with The Metropolitan Opera), Canadian Opera Company’s production of Salome (directed and filmed by Atom Egoyan for Seven Veils, starring Amanda Seyfried), and sang the title role in Don Pasquale with Opera Omaha. At Seattle Opera, he was featured in three contemporary works—As One, The Falling and the Rising, and Charlie Parker’s Yardbird—and made international debuts with Greek National Opera in Nadia Boulanger’s La Ville Morte and the Budapesti Nyàrí Fesztivàl in Porgy and Bess. Other highlights include Carmen with Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Maine and Finger Lakes Opera, Die Schweigsame Frau at Bard Summerscape, H.M.S. Pinafore with Vancouver Opera and Caramoor International Music Festival, L’elisir d’amore with Dayton Opera and Manitoba Opera, and Candide with Amarillo Opera. He has also brought leading Mozart roles to Opera Columbus in Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro. Beyond the opera house, Williams has appeared with American Repertory Theater in Matt Aucoin’s Crossing, Peak Performances in Frank London’s Hatuey: Memory of Fire, New York City Center Encores in Lost in the Stars, and New York City Opera in Laura Kaminsky’s As One.

In concert, Jorell Williams has appeared with leading orchestras and ensembles across North America, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the Strathmore, Ottawa Baroque Caelis Academy, and Choir St-Laurent at la Maison Symphonique, performing works from Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt to Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. He has sung Brahms’ Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Omaha Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, and other major symphonic ensembles. Williams’ performances have also been showcased at prestigious venues and festivals including Lincoln Center Songbook Series, American Modern Opera Company, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Park Avenue Armory, Copland House, Brooklyn Art Song Society, Five Boroughs Music Festival, IlluminArts Miami, and Die Österreichische Gesellschaft für Musikwissenschaft. With the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, he toured internationally in Wynton Marsalis’ Abyssinian Mass and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts. He has been featured as soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Amadeus Chorus, Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Fauré’s and Duruflé’s Requiems with the Juneau Symphony and Kingston Chamber Choir, and Ginastera’s Estancia with the Eugene Symphony. A dedicated champion of contemporary music, Williams has premiered Paul Frucht’s A More Perfect Union with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, Jennifer Higdon’s Dooryard Bloom with the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, and frequently collaborates with the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) in programs including My Brother’s Keeper, A Wider View, and Laura Kaminsky & Friends alongside Academy Award–winner Laura Karpman and Grammy Award–winner Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum.

Jorell Williams is a silver-medal winner of the American Traditions Competition and has received top honors from the Gerda Lissner International Competition, Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, The American Prize, the National Association of Negro Musicians (NAMN), and the Serge Koussevitzky Foundation. An accomplished recording artist, he has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (Abyssinian Mass), SONY Records artist Hafez Nazeri (Untold: Rumi Symphony Project), David Lang (Difficulty of Crossing a Field), Jennifer Higdon (Cold Mountain), Robert Paterson and David Cote (In Real Life), Mimesis Ensemble (Dancing in the Night), Essential Voices USA (Celebrating the American Spirit), and Damien Sneed (Introspections). Future recordings include My Brother’s Keeper with NYFOS Records and the Lincoln Center Songbook Cast Album of Diedre Murray’s Running Man.

 

Jorell Williams received his training at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Voice and Performance, before continuing his studies at the Manhattan School of Music, where he completed both a Master’s degree in Classical Voice and Opera Performance and a Professional Studies Certificate.