Baritone Will Liverman Announces 2024/2025 Season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mallory McFarland | Morahan Arts and Media
mallory@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646.241.0899 

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Baritone Will Liverman
Announces 2024/2025 Season

House Debut with San Francisco Opera as
Marcello in La bohème

World Premiere of New Song Cycle Written by
Will Liverman at National Sawdust

Return to The Metropolitan Opera for The Magic
Flute; Lyric Opera of Chicago for La bohème

Concert Appearances with San Francisco
Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and
Oakland Symphony

Collaborations with The Dessoff Choirs, 
New York Festival of Song, International
Contemporary Ensemble, and String Theory

International Appearances with the Dutch
National Opera, London Symphony Orchestra,
Oxford International Song Festival, and at The
Concertgebouw

“...a tour de force of technique and stamina.” - The Guardian

“...an extraordinary depth of emotional intelligence and expansive intuition…Liverman embodied his most powerful presence as his purpose. The audience was absolutely captivated.” - Operawire

“Will Liverman is the real deal.” - Chicago Tribune

www.willliverman.com

New York, NY (August 20, 2024) — Grammy Award-winning baritone Will Liverman announces his 2024-2025 season with performances across the US including his house debut with the San Francisco Opera portraying Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème, as well as his return to the Metropolitan Opera for The Magic Flute and Lyric Opera of Chicago for La Bohème. Liverman makes concert appearances with the San Francisco Symphony and the Oakland Symphony for performances of Carmina Burana, performs Brahms’ Requiem with The Dessoff Choirs and again with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and joins a star-studded cast for New York Festival of Song’s My Brother’s Keeper at Kaufman Music Center. Liverman also collaborates with International Contemporary Ensemble for Boulez Rebooted at Carnegie Hall, presents the world premiere of a song cycle of his own composition at National Sawdust, and joins String Theory at the Hunter in a program exploring the lineage of art song. Equally in demand for performances abroad, Liverman returns to the Dutch National Opera for Peter Grimes in the role of Ned Keene, gives a recital with pianist Daan Boertien at The Concertgebouw, appears in recital with pianist Jonathan King at the Oxford International Song Festival, and takes the stage with the London Symphony Orchestra led by Sir Antonio Pappano.

Following summer appearances at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Andris Nelsons and at the BBC Proms with the London Symphony Orchestra led by Sir Antonio Pappano, Liverman returns to the Netherlands to join the Dutch National Opera for another season performing the role of Ned Keene in Peter Grimes on October 6, 9, 13, 15, 18 & 22, 2024. Liverman made his house debut with the Dutch National Opera in 2022 as the Reverend for the European premiere of Jeanine Tesori's Blue. While in the Netherlands for Peter Grimes, Liverman gives a recital of works by Burleigh, Vaughan Williams & Still with pianist Daan Boertien on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 8:15 p.m. at The Concertgebouw. He joins the Oxford International Song Festival on October 24, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. for a recital featuring the music of Schubert, Burleigh, and Larsen, as well as his own compositions, alongside pianist Jonathan King.

Liverman returns to the US for an evening of songs with String Theory at the Hunter Musem of American Art on October 29, 2024, joined by pianist Gloria Chien as they present works by Margaret Bonds, Libby Larsen, Gerald Finzi, Schubert, and Harry T. Burleigh.

In November, Liverman joins for a performance of Brahms’ Requiem with The Dessoff Choirs on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. at The Town Hall in NYC as part of Dessoff’s centennial season celebration. He travels to the West Coast for a concert appearance with the Oakland Symphony in Two Black Churches Carmina Burana on Friday, November 8, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. at Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles before returning to NYC to join a star-studded cast in New York Festival of Song’s My Brother’s Keeper, a story of brotherly love and community among Black men in America conceived by baritone Justin Austin and performed by tenor Joshua Blue, bass-baritone Joseph Parrish, baritone Jorell Williams, and tenor Chaz’men Williams-Ali, alongside NYFOS’s own Steven Blier on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. at Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center.

In December, Liverman gives the world premiere performance of a new song cycle of his own composition on Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. at National Sawdust. Featuring singer Saniyyah Bamberg, Liverman’s new song cycle, specifically created for National Sawdusts' mainstage Williamsburg-based space, is set to poetry by Liverman himself along with long-term collaborator, pianist / poet, Jonathan King, Tesia Kwarteng, and Sara Teasdale. Liverman’s previous compositions and arrangements have received critical acclaim including his 2023 opera, The Factotum, described by the Chicago Tribune as feeling “fresh and, at its best, the score is terrific,” his 2023 EP of original art song, The Dunbar/Moore Sessions - Volume I, plus several songs on his recently released album, Show Me the Way (2024), which was described as having “a wonderfully personal touch” (BBC Music) and a “compelling and sometimes spellbinding album” (San Francisco Classical Voice).

Later that month, Liverman joins The Metropolitan Opera’s holiday presentation of The Magic Flute reprising the iconic role of Papageno on December 12, 14, 17, 20, 24, 27 & 28, 2024 and January 2 & 4, 2025.

In the new year, Liverman makes a concert appearance with the San Francisco Symphony led by conductor David Robinson for performances of Carmina Burana on Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at Davies Symphony Hall. He then joins International Contemporary Ensemble for a performance of Kaija Saariaho’s Sombre in Boulez Rebooted as part of Carnegie Hall’s Pierre Boulez centennial celebration on Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. on the Zankel Hall Center Stage. 

Liverman returns to the UK in February for a concert appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra led by Sir Antonio Pappano in a program of works by Maconchy, Walton and Vaughan Williams on Sunday, February 9, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. at the Barbican in London. He then returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he is a celebrated alumnus, to perform the role of Marcello in La Bohème on March 15, 19, 22, 25, 28 & 31, 2025 and April 3, 6, 9 & 12, 2025 at Lyric Opera House.

Closing out the season, Liverman appears with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra led by Robert Spano for a performance of Brahms’ Requiem on Saturday, May 10, 2025 7:30 p.m. at The VETS followed by his house debut with San Francisco Opera also portraying Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème on Friday, June 13, 2025 at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at the War Memorial Opera House.

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Performance Information

Dutch National Opera: Peter Grimes with Will Liverman as Ned Keene
October 6-22, 2024
Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage | Amsterdam, Netherlands
Link: https://www.operaballet.nl/en/dutch-national-opera/2024-2025/peter-grimes 
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Will Liverman & Daan Boertien: Burleigh, Vaughan Williams & Still
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 8:15 p.m.
The Concertgebouw, Recital Hall | Amsterdam, Netherlands
Link: https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/concerts/5149923-will-liverman-daan-boertien-burleigh-vaughan-williams-still 

Program:
Price - I grew a Rose
Poulenc - Quatre poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, op. 58
Still - Grief
Burleigh - Five songs of Laurence Hope
Sneed - I Dream A World
Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel
Barnes - Luxury (from Songs of Jubilee)
Strauss - Wie sollten wir geheim sie halten (from Sechs Lieder aus Lotosblätter)
Strauss - Traum durch die Dämmerung (from Drei Lieder)
Okpebholo - Steal Away

Artists:
Will Liverman, baritone
Daan Boertien, piano
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Schubert, Burleigh, Larsen
Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Holywell Music Room | Holywell St | Oxford, United Kingdom
Link: https://oxfordsong.org/events/schubert-burleigh-larsen

Program:
Works by Schubert, Harry T. Burleigh, Libby Larsen, and Will Liverman.

Artists:
Will Liverman, baritone
Jonathan King, piano
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An Evening of Songs with Will Liverman
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
Hunter Museum of American Art | 10 Bluff View Ave | Chattanooga, TN
Link: https://www.stringtheorymusic.org/concerts/an-evening-of-songs-with-will-liverman 

Program:
Works by Margaret Bonds, Libby Larsen, Gerald Finzi, Schubert, and Harry T. Burleigh

Artists:
Will Liverman, baritone
Gloria Chien, piano
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Brahms' Requiem: Celebrating 100 Years of Dessoff
Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
The Town Hall | 123 West 43rd Street | New York, NY, 10036
Link: https://www.dessoff.org/events/brahms-requiem

Program: 
Brahms - Requiem

Artists:
The Dessoff Choirs
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Will Liverman, baritone
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Oakland Symphony: Two Black Churches Carmina Burana
Friday, November 8, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
Paramount Theatre | 2025 Broadway | Oakland, CA 94612
Link: https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/tickets/subscriptions-4/

Program: 
Shawn Okpebholo - Zoom!
Shawn Okpebholo - Two Black Churches (Oakland Symphony co-commission)
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana

Artists:
Kedrick Armstrong, conductor
Meechot Marrero, soprano
Ashley Faatoalia, tenor
Will Liverman, baritone
Oakland Symphony Chorus
Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir
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New York Festival of Song: My Brother’s Keeper
Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | 129 W 67th St | New York, NY 10023
Link: https://nyfos.org/24-25season/

Program:
Music that tells a story of brotherly love and community among Black men in America through art song, soul, gospel, and opera.

Artists:
Justin Austin, tenor
Joshua Blue, tenor
Will Liverman, baritone
Joseph Parrish,bass-baritone
Jorell Williams, baritone
Chaz’men Williams-Ali, tenor
Steven Blier, piano
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National Sawdust: Will Liverman Featuring Saniyyah
Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
National Sawdust | 80 N 6th St | Brooklyn, NY 11249
Link: https://www.nationalsawdust.org/event/will-liverman-featuring-saniyyah

Program:
Will Liverman - New Work (World Premiere)

Artists:
Will Liverman, baritone
Saniyyah Bamberg, singer
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The Metropolitan Opera: The Magic Flute with Will Liverman as Papageno
December 12, 14, 17, 20, 24, 27 & 28, 2024
January 2 & 4, 2025
The Metropolitan Opera | 30 Lincoln Center Plaza | New York, NY 10023
Link: https://www.metopera.org/season/2024-25-season/the-magic-flute/
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San Francisco Symphony: Carmina Burana
Thursday, January 6, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
Davies Symphony Hall | 201 Van Ness Ave | San Francisco, CA 94102
Link: https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2024-25/carmina-burana 

Program:
John Adams - After the Fall [San Francisco Symphony Commission and World Premiere]
Carl Orff - Carmina burana

Artists:
San Francisco Symphony
David Robertson, conductor
Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Susanna Phillips, soprano
Arnold Livingston Geis, tenor
Will Liverman, baritone
San Francisco Symphony Chorus,
Jenny Wong, director
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Boulez Rebooted
Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall Center Stage | 881 7th Ave. | New York, NY 10019
Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2025/01/30/International-Contemporary-Ensemble-0730PM

Program:
Saariaho - Sombre
Philippe Manoury - Hypothèse du sextuor
Tyshawn Sorey - Sentimental Shards
Boulez - Anthèmes 2
International Contemporary Ensemble and Somax 2 Ircam - Variations (World Premiere)

Artists:
International Contemporary Ensemble
George Lewis, Artistic Director
Will Liverman, Baritone
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London Symphony Orchestra: Maconchy, Walton and Vaughan Williams 1
Sunday, February 9, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Barbican | London, UK
Link: https://www.lso.co.uk/whats-on/maconchy-walton-and-vaughan-williams-1-9-feb/

Program:
Elizabeth Maconchy - Nocturne for Orchestra
William Walton - Cello Concerto
Ralph Vaughan Williams - A Sea Symphony (Symphony No 1)

Artists:
Sir Antonio Pappano, conductor
Rebecca Gilliver, cello
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano
Will Liverman, baritone
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
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Lyric Opera of Chicago: La Boheme with Will Liverman as Marcello
March 15, 19, 22, 25, 28 & 31, 2025
April 3, 6, 9 & 12, 2025
Lyric Opera House | 20 N Wacker Dr | Chicago, IL 60606
Link: https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2024-25/la-boheme/
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Rhode Island Philharmonic: Brahms’ Requiem
Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
The VETS | 1 Ave of the Arts | Providence, RI 02903
Link: https://www.riphil.org/events#calendar-26195b86-cb48-40d9-a600-579079d902e8-event-lwb5ycgb

Program:
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Barber - Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Brahms - A German Requiem

Artists:
Rhode Island Philharmonic
Robert Spano, conductor
Jessica Rivera, soprano
Will Liverman, baritone
Providence Singers, Christine Noel, Artistic Director
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San Francisco Opera: La Boheme with Will Liverman as Marcello
June 13, 18 & 21, 2025
War Memorial Opera House | 301 Van Ness Avenue | San Francisco, CA 94102-4509
Link: https://www.sfopera.com/operas/la-boheme/ 

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About Will Liverman
Called “a voice for this historic moment” (Washington Post), GRAMMY Award-winning baritone Will Liverman is the recipient of the 2022 Beverly Sills Artist Award by The Metropolitan Opera and the co-creator of The Factotum – called “mic-drop fabulous good” (Opera News) – which premiered at the Lyric Opera Chicago in 2023. Described as “a gifted chameleon of a singing actor who disappears into his roles” (Opera) with a “beaming, high baritone that easily asserts” (LA Times), Liverman has been hailed by critics for his versatility in dramatic and comedic roles, as well as on concert stages in North America and internationally, and his dedication and vision as a composer, artist, and advisor helping to evolve and push the performing arts industry forward.

Following summer 2024 appearances at the BBC Proms in Britten’s War Requiem, Sibelius’s The Origin of Fire and Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire led by Andris Nelsons at Tanglewood, and Aspen Music Festival’s Opera Benefit, Liverman reprises the iconic role of Papageno in the Metropolitan Opera’s holiday presentation of The Magic Flute, returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Marcello in La Bohème, and joins Dutch National Opera for another season, this time as Ned Keene in Peter Grimes. He makes his house debut during the 2024/2025 season at San Francisco Opera also portraying Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème.

Concert engagements include Kaija Saariaho’s Sombre at Carnegie Hall with the International Contemporary Ensemble; Carmina Burana with the San Francisco Symphony; London Symphony Orchestra led by Sir Antonio Pappano; works by Burleigh, Vaughan Williams, and Still at The Concertgebouw; works by Schubert, Burleigh, and Larsen with the Oxford International Song Festival; Brahms’ Requiem with the Rhode Island Philharmonic; Shawn Okpebholo’s Two Black Churches and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Oakland Symphony; a song cycle of his own compositions at National Sawdust; New York Festival of Song at Kaufman Music Center; and String Theory at the Hunter.

Lyric Opera of Chicago presented the world premiere of Liverman’s new opera, The Factotum, in 2023, which he starred in and composed with DJ King Rico. Inspired by Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Liverman and Rico place the story in a present-day Black barbershop on Chicago’s South Side, celebrating the strength of community and power of the human spirit in a soul opera that “offers a chameleonic pastiche of soul, funk, and classical elements that is incredibly effective” (Opera News). Houston Grand Opera, Portland Opera, and Washington National Opera are all slated to put on The Factotum in future seasons.

Recording projects include Liverman’s Show Me The Way (Cedille Records, 2024), a celebration of American song; Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers (Cedille Records, 2021), nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album; The Dunbar/Moore Sessions - Volume I (Lexicon Classics, 2023), a collection of original art song composed, played, and sung by Liverman himself; and Whither Must I Wander (Odradek Records, 2020), named one of the Chicago Tribune’s “best classical recordings of 2020.”

Liverman is an alumnus of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and was a Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist. He holds degrees from The Juilliard School (M.M.) and Wheaton College in Illinois (B.M.). www.willliverman.com.

Photo at top of release by Jaclyn Simpson

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