Jorell Williams is an American operatic baritone with a wide variety of experience from standard repertoire to premiere pieces. Praised for his “magnificent, rich-toned” Baritone (The New York Times), Mr. Williams begins the 2020-2021 season with the world premiere of the song cycle In Real Life written by Robert Paterson and David Cote with the American Modern Ensemble, followed by his in concert return to the Brooklyn Art Song Society. Previous seasons include Seattle Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Birmingham, On-Site Opera, Finger Lakes Opera, and Urban Arias. Mr. Williams has recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, David Lang’s (Opera News top critics’ choice of 2015 for Difficulty of crossing a field), and most recently Jennifer Higdon’s 2017 Grammy nominated Cold Mountain with the Santa Fe Opera. He had the honor to perform with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in “A Celebration of America” at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater on the occasion of the first Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama, as well as the U.S. tour and European premiere of Marsalis’ Abyssinian Mass at the Barbican during the 2012 Olympics in London.
