William Workman (baritone)
William Workman (February 4, 1940 – September 13, 2019)
Life and career
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, Workman studied voice at Davidson College with Donald Plott before pursuing studies in opera with Martial Singher at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He continued with further training with Singher at the Music Academy of the West in California. In 1965 became a resident artist at the Hamburg State Opera (HSO), making his professional debut that year as the Second Prisoner in Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio. He remained committed to the HSO through 1972, during which he was a pupil of Hedwig Schilling. He created roles in two world premieres at the HSO, Tony in Gian Carlo Menotti's Help, Help, the Globolinks! (1968) and Prince Henri of Condé in Krzysztof Penderecki's The Devils of Loudun (1969). For the former opera, he reprised the role of Tony for the work's United States premiere at the Santa Fe Opera in 1969. He later returned to Santa Fe in 1987 to perform in Richard Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau. In 1971 he recorded the roles of Abramane and La Vengéance in Jean-Philippe Rameau's Zoroastre for Vox Records.
In 1972 Workman became a resident artist of the
Workman died in Horst, Steinburg, Germany.[2]
References
- ^ a b Nicolas Slonimsky (1984). "William Workman". In Theodore Baker (ed.). Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Vol. 2. G. Schirmer, Inc.
- ^ a b "Todesfälle – Stand Dezember 2019". Online Merker (in German). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
- ^ "William Workman". Operissimo. Retrieved March 24, 2021.