William Lewis
Tenor

Internationally acclaimed tenor William Lewis was educated at the University of Colorado, Texas Christian University and New York University, and became a professor of voice and opera at Penn State University, New York State University at Binghamton and the University of Texas. He is the Artistic Director of the Austrian American Mozart Academy in Salzburg, Austria.

Lewis enjoys a highly regarded reputation as a tenor whose versatility spans the operatic repertoire from Mozart to Schoenberg, having performed over one hundred thirty major operatic roles in ten languages. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City he has been heard as Rodolfo, Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, Macduff, Arrigo, Alfredo, Gabriele, Turiddu, Hoffmann, Don Jose, Romeo, Aeneas, Dimitri, Gbermann, Stewa, IdomeneG, Alwa, the Tambourmajor, Oedipus Rex, Alwa, and in the dual role of Steuermann/Erik.

Lewis made his San Francisco Opera debut in 1975 as Steuermann/Erik and appeared there in subsequent seasons as Stewa (Jenufa), Albert Gregor (The Makropoulos Affair), Boris (Katya Kabanova), Frank Sargent (Angle of Repose - world premier), Le Cid, Sergei (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk)~ Golitsin (Khovantschina), Eumete (Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria) and Loge (Das Rheingold).

In Europe the renowned tenor bas received critical acclaim at Teatro alia Scala (Milan), Teatro Comunale (Florence), Teatro fa Fenice (Venice), Teatro Regia (Torino), Theatre Nationale de Paris, Opera Lyon, Opera Toulouse, Royal Opera Covent Garden (London), English Opera North, Glasgow Opera, Hamburg Staatsoper, Vienna Staatsoper, Sao Carlo Op~ra (Lisbon), Cologne Opera, as well as the festivals at Salzburg, EdinbQrgb, Spoleto, Italy and Wexford, Ireland.
His performed Straus repertoire is vast: Matteo in Arabella, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Kaiser in Die Frau obne Schatten, Midas in Die Liebe der Danae, Apollo in Daphne, Der Baron in Intermezzo. He has received rave reviews as Herod at the Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa), Teatro Nuovo (Spoleto), Baltimore Opera, Denver Opera and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the young Syrian, Narraboth.

Some of Mr. Lewis's recent engagements have included the role of King Pollux in Richard Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae with the American Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leon Botstein at Avery Fisher Hall. The performance was recorded live and released on the Telarc label. Last year he sang the role of Prince Shuisky in a concert performance of Boris Godunov with the Austin Symphony under the direction of Peter Bay. Mr. Lewis also repeated his definitive role of Herod in Salome with the Nashville Opera in April 2004 and received a glowing review, which said that he "literally inhabited his role and was magnificent".