Douglas Williams is a singer and an actor of wide ranging interests, abilities, and repertoire. Trained in singing at the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music, and in acting at Shakespeare & Company, he is equally at home on the concert stage with some of the great symphony orchestras of the world as he is conjuring a half dozen characters in his one-man show, The Show. 

In opera he distinguished himself in the roles of Don Giovanni, Figaro, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, and Pluto in the American premiere of Jonathan Dove’s The Other Euridice. In musical theater he has appeared as Nick Arnstein in Funny Girl, and in Barry Manilow’s Harmony as Bobby Biberti. 

Douglas can be heard on a slate of classical recordings, including The Magic Flute for Deutsche Gramophone with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Grammy-winning recording of La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers with the Boston Early Music Festival. Doug is a passionate amateur naturalist and holds deep wonder for the forests of western New England and the high deserts of the Great Basin of the intermountain American west.

BACH   | Cantatas | The Cantata Singers | David Hoose, cond.

“Douglas Williams gave ringing conviction to [his] part.” — David Weininger, Boston Globe

| Cantatas | Clarion Music Society | Steven Fox, cond.

“Particularly impressive...” — James R. Oestreich, The New York Times

         | St. John Passion| (Christus/bass arias) | Les Talens Lyriques | Christoph Rousset, cond.

“...sang with sophistication and restraint” — Frankfurter Neue Presse

         | St. John Passion| “Jesus” | St. Thomas Church | John Scott, cond.

“Mr. Williams unleashed the full power of his clear and incisive tone in a role more often played for warmth and humanity, and he made the portrayal work superbly on his own terms.”

— James Oestreich, New York Times

         | St. Matthew Passion (bass arias) | Soli Deo Gloria | John Nelson, cond.

“...a secure and sonorous presence” — Chicago Classical Review

BRAHMS | Requiem | Master Chorale of South Florida | Brett Karlin, cond.

“Douglas Williams brought a dark, lustrous voice and a sense of mortal desperation to “Lord teach me,” a meditation on the brevity of life.” — South Florida Classical Review

BRITTEN |Curlew River| "The Ferryman"| Mark Morris Dance Group | Mark Morris, cond.

“…Douglas Williams, who sang both the Ferryman in Curlew River and Aeneas, seemed to have the measure of the room; he walked away with the evening’s vocal honors.” — Christopher Johnson, Zealnyc

DEBUSSY | Pelléas et Mélisande “Golaud” | Opera Atelier | David Fallis, cond.

“Would you believe the opening scene of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande arranged for 12 early music Tafelmusik players? It was simply fabulous. I heard Debussy’s impressionistic score as I had never heard it before. It was absolutely cinematic, expressing mood and commentary and emotional subtext and mystery. Conductor Fallis found all the passion and nuance that the music presents, while soprano Meghan Lindsay as Mélisande and bass-baritone Douglas Williams as Prince Golaud gave rapturous performances. How an early music group found the heart of Debussy’s 1902 opera was a wonderful gift and the highlight of the evening. OA always attracts singers who can act, so every number was performed from the heart.” – Ludwig van Toronto

"[In] the opening scene of Claude Debussy’s 1902 opera, Pélleas et Mélisande...soprano Meghan Lindsay and bass-baritone Douglas Williams showed how compelling Opera Atelier can be....Co-Artistic Director Marshall Pynkoski drew utterly compelling performances out of these stellar artists ... Williams’ nuanced, noble bearing and superb French made one long for a complete Opera Atelier production of Debussy’s symbolist masterpiece, rumored to be in the company’s future." -- La Scena Musicale

GRETRY |Le Magnifique| "Laurence"| Opera Lafayette | Ryan Brown, cond.

“...the gifted young bass-baritone Douglas Williams...”  — The New York Times

“But the evening's two best vocal performances came from singers in secondary roles:…bass-baritone Douglas Williams as Alix's husband Laurence…” — The New York Times

HANDEL | Acis and Galatea | “Polyphemus” | Boston Early Music Festival

“...the most powerful singer here was Douglas Williams, a bass-baritone with a superb sense of drama.”

— The New York Times

“...astounding agility even in his lower registers.” — Kansas City Metropolis

“...a formidable stage presence” — Seattle Times

“Douglas Williams displayed a stylistically convincing Handelian bass of wide range and flexibility. Handel’s magnificently characteristic arias were graced with improvised and beautifully executed ornamentation”

— Virginia Newes, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“The most striking performances came from Douglas Williams as Pope (Polyphemus) and Aaron Sheehan as the Duke of Chandos (Acis), who let their characters' rivalry inform everything they did onstage. Williams had a way of over-enunciating all the syllables in a given phrase, conveying the aggression of Polyphemus and the pedantry of Pope simultaneously.” — Opera News

“Douglas Williams’s characterization of Pope-as-Polyphemus’s tortured despair was more broad, vocally and physically, than before, but his bass still rolled forth, sepulchrally precise.”

— Matthew Guerrieri, The Boston Globe

  | Acis and Galatea | “Polyphemus” | Mark Morris Dance Group / Philharmonic Baroque Orchestra |

                     Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Douglas Williams deployed a winning stage manner and a sturdy bass-baritone that lent a gleeful tone to the villainous Polyphemus. It was impossible to resist.” — Allan Ulrich, The Financial Times

“The splendid bass-baritone Douglas Williams physically towers over everyone else in the cast… the hunky Williams, with rock star hair, gropes everyone, grabs his crotch, and taunts the outraged Acis by planting a big smacker on his lips.” — Carla Escoda, Huffington Post

“Mr. Williams is a lively mover, kicking the air as he first vaults onto the stage, lifted by others... Mr. Williams is also the most completely satisfying singer here." — Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

“The best-integrated combination of singer and dancers was bass-baritone Williams, a gorgeous, villainous, and piggy Polyphemus, whose moves, which included slapping, goosing, and grabbing, were seamlessly integrated with the dancers, creating a character you love to hate." — Janice Berman, San Francisco Classical Voice

“Tragedy arrives in the form of the louche Cyclops, giant Polyphemus, sung by powerful bass-baritone Douglas Williams." — Ann Murphy, San Jose Mercury News

“The visible, vocal and dramatic star of the sung show was baritone Douglas Williams as Polyphemus. He sings with great gusto, and acts and moves skillfully among the dancers. A most ingratiating villain.” — David Littlejohn, Wall Street Journal

| Acis and Galatea | “Polyphemus” | Mark Morris Dance Group / Handel and Haydn Society of Boston |                         Nicholas McGegan, cond.

"The show was of course stolen by Polyphemus, the antagonistic monster sung admirably by bass-baritone Douglas Williams, who devoured his role and relished in dominating this world of nymphs and shepherds." — Patrick Valentino, Boston Classical Review

“Williams filled the house with a handsome, sturdy tone and carried Polyphemus' furious melismas with passion and dexterity." — Melanie O’Neill, Examiner.com

"Douglas Williams’s Polyphemus is the most playful, and characterful, of the soloists.”

— Jeffrey Gantz, The Boston Globe

         | Acis and Galatea | Mark Morris Dance Group / Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Lincoln Center’s                              Mostly Mozart Festival | Nicholas McGegan, conductor

“…the bass-baritone Douglas Williams, in a superbly incisive performance…”

— Alastair Macaulay, NYTimes

“Williams' willingness to commit to choreography did not impede his technique. He sang with power and strength throughout his entire register, navigating the giant vocal leaps Handel wrote to represent the character's size with ease.” — Stephen Raskauskas. BWWDanceWorld.com

"Lanky bass-baritone Douglas Williams was the most successful in inhabiting the production’s dance world. His puffed-up, brutish Polyphemus lasciviously harassed both males and females while mooning unsuccessfully over the uninterested Galatea." — Christopher Corwin, MusicalAmerica.com

“Mr. Williams took top vocal honors with his handsome take on Polyphemus’ bombastic numbers…"

— James Jorden, NewYorkObserver.com

         | Acis and Galatea | Kaufmann Center | Kansas City, MO

“Baritone Douglas Williams brought pomp and sass to Polyphemus; his character an odd but compelling mix of terrifying and silly” — Hampton Stevens, The Kansas City Star

The soloists, all four of them were superb, although one had to leave disbelief at the door to accept bass-baritone Douglas Williams as the monster, Polyphemus. He had the sneering face, the commanding voice, and he fit well into his modified camouflage skinny-jeans with nary a bulge. His performance of the air and recitative, "I rage, I melt, I burn," and "O ruddier than the cherry," were clear, and if you looked away, terrifying. — The Examiner

| Apollo e Dafne | “Apollo” | Pacific Baroque

“Douglas Williams filled out his larger part as Apollo most impressively, always displaying a rich and flexible vocal fabric, beautifully smooth over a range that actually extended into his falsetto.  His preparation was scrupulous.  From his opening arias, one noticed Williams’ absolutely sure sense of line and his natural dramatic involvement.  Everything in his singing seemed so perfectly paced, as he used all his wit, charm and protestation to woo Dafne.  Obviously, Williams has a strong and beautiful voice and clear stage presence, but what impressed me most was his ability to keep all his singing so spontaneous and direct in feeling.  This was a tremendous success.” — Geoffrey Newman, Vancouver Classical Music

         | Early Cantatas | Tragicomedia | Stephen Stubbs, cond.

“Bass-baritone Douglas Williams has a rich and even tone, which is lithe enough to do justice to Handel’s often complicated meslimatic vocal lines. His training with some of today’s leading experts in early vocal music is evident. Talented artists with fresh faces like Douglas Williams will ensure the vitality of this repertoire.” — Bachtrack

| La resurrezione “Lucifer” | Opera Atelier | David Fallis, cond.

“Douglas Williams’ sinewy and resonant bass was just right for Lucifer. Strange as it may seem, in a sense Lucifer is the comic relief in La resurrezione and Williams did bring out the absurdity of his character’s pretensions without hamming it up.” – Bachtrack

| Messiah | Houston Symphony Orchestra | Christopher Warren Green, cond.
“Douglas Williams...did his most beautiful singing in Part the Second, particularly in his last two selections.” — Houston Opera Examiner

| Messiah | Philadelphia Orchestra | Jeannette Sorrell, cond.

“Philadelphia Orchestra performs its freshest Messiah in years… though bass-baritones rarely sound comfortable in Handel’s coloratura passages, Douglas Williams made his treatment of the words count for more. – Philadelphia Inquirer

| Rodelinda “Garibaldo” | Hudson Hall/Ruckus | Rb Schlather, director

"one of the finest vocal outings of the night" as well as "a mighty presence, booming and characterfully wicked, imperious in holding his strength and sexuality over others." – The New York Times

         | Saul | "Saul" | Musica Vocale | Arnold Epley, cond.

Douglas Williams, who audiences may remember from Acis and Galatea, was even stronger in this role. A shining moment occurred in numbers 66 an d67, just before the end of Act II, which required Williams to go from raging against perceived insolence to sweetly charming in the space of a few notes."

— Lee Hartman, KCmetropolis.org

HAYDN | The Creation | St. Louis Symphony Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

American bass-baritone Douglas Williams’ angel Raphael set the tone; his big, dark sound is alluring, and his interpretations as both angel and Adam were spot-on. – Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

HAYDN | The Creation | Grant Park Music Festival | Carlos Kalmar, cond.

“The trio of soloists proved first-class, the best this listener has heard live in this work since Georg Solti’s CSO performance in 1993 (fortunately preserved on a London recording)…. The bass serves as a quasi-narrator in the first two sections and Douglas Williams delivered Raphael’s pronouncements with a deep sonority and patriarchal gravitas.” – Chicago Classical Review

LAMPE | The Dragon of Wantley “Gaffer Gubbins” | Boston Early Music Festival

"Sheehan’s sophomoric character was offset brilliantly by bass-baritone Douglas Williams in the role of Margery’s father Gaffer Gubbins. His voice always had a seriousness and gravity that befitted the character and provided a counterpoint, both in musical and emotional range, to the rest of the cast. ...As Gaffer Gubbins reminded us in a spoken soliloquy at the close, art should provide the human soul with encouragement. " – The Boston Musical Intelligencer

LULLY | Psyche | “L’homme afflige” | Boston Early Music Festival

“an Italian vocal trio of grieving citizens stood out, thanks to Yulia Van Doren and Douglas Williams.”

— Anne Midgette, New York Times

| Alceste | “Lycomede” | Les Talens | Christophe Rousset, cond.

“Douglas Williams’s Lycomede – his glossy baritone often manipulated and distorted – pushed beyond the music’s tidy confines to find something more awkwardly truthful.” — Alexandra Coghlan, Opera

MANILOW & SUSSMAN | Harmony | Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA

"Williams is possessed of a one-of-a-kind instrument, and you can hear it every time he opens his mouth to speak or sing." — Atlanta Journal Constitution

"Williams sings bass in the Comedian Harmonists and he’s an absolute theatre dreamboat on stage. His voice is like butter and he’s one tall drink of water." — Fenuxe Magazine

"[the] astoundingly good baritone Douglas Williams (Bobby Biberti) is sublime throughout the show."

— Access Atlanta

"terrific bass voice" — Atlanta Intown

MASCAGNI | Iris | “Kyoto” | Bard SummerScape | Leon Botstein, cond.

Douglas Williams as the brothel owner who abducts Iris was a frightening and authoritative Kyoto, wielding an attractive baritone and crisp attacks on Luigi Illica’s incredibly texty libretto. — Opera Teen

MONTEVERDI | Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria | “Tempo, Nettuno, Antinoo” | Pacific Musicworks |

         Stephen Stubbs, cond.

“Bass-baritone Douglas Williams (Time, Neptune) was the other standout, with vibrant vocal color on top and resonance at the bottom of the range.” — Jason Victor Serinus, San Francisco Classical Voice

“Douglas Williams, as Tempo, Nettuno, and Antinoo, unfurled a bass voice of splendid solidity.”

— Bernard Jacobson, Music Web International

“Handsome bass Douglas Williams (Time, Neptune, and Antinoo) was also impressive, with a powerful low range and easy tops.” — Rod Parke, Seattle Gay News

| Il ballo delle ingrate | "Plutone" | Seattle Baroque Orchestra | Stephen Stubbs, cond.

“One bigpleasure here was Williams’ rich bass-baritone, whose voice took him almost to the lowest levels of the human range and possibly of the underworld also, as well as surprisingly high and always with a warm rounded tone.” — The Gathering Note

“...another triumph for Doug Williams, whose rock-solid voice and commanding stage presence had already impressed me no end in Acis and Galatea...” — MusicWeb International

| Orfeo | “Caronte” | Sasha Waltz and Dutch National Opera | Pablo Heras-Casado, cond.

“We saw Caronte the ferryman moving slowly and hypnotically through the water, fending off the lost souls crowding his boat, with his oar. Throughout the scene, Caronte, sung with gravitas by Douglas Williams, remained in the water behind the wooden frame, so that we glimpsed him and the forbidden world of the dead elusively” — Rosemary Carlton-Willis, Bachtrack.com

MOZART   | Don Giovanni |Title role | Opera Atelier | David Fallis, cond.

“Cast in Don Giovanni’s title role, bass-baritone Douglas Williams delights. Outrageously handsome, the dashing young American lead essentially devours the stage in a strikingly charismatic performance, his… high note-friendly instrument rippling with honeyed charm. Soloing on mandolin, albeit for only a few bars, Williams utterly captivates with a gently playful rendition of Mozart’s irresistible serenade, Deh, vieni alla finestra, o mio tesoro (“Oh, come to your window, my lovely”).” —Opera Going to Toronto

“Douglas Williams seems as if he is Giovanni incarnate, dashing and fun-loving and young enough to fear nothing.” —The Globe and Mail

“Williams was a star in the title role, wholly believable as Elvira’s pathological seducer, singing with enviable harmonic capability.” —Opera Canada

“American bass-baritone Douglas Williams returned [to Opera Atelier] to take on… Don Giovanni, singing with pleasing sound and acting with masculine swagger, exuding sex appeal and embodying the archetypal rogue.” —Ludwig van Toronto

“The lead role is being sung by American bass-baritone Douglas Williams, who looked and sounded the part of a morals-flaunting seducer.” —Toronto Star

“Given the anti-hero nature of Don Giovanni (Douglas Williams), the titular character requires a specific kind of execution to make him likeable enough to enjoy watching and unlikeable enough to deserve his fate. Williams is on point throughout, playing the Don as both oblivious to his own shortcomings and confident enough to make the audience forget them too.” —Broadway World

“Of the men, the best performance was by Douglas Williams (Don Giovanni). He excelled in Mozart’s chameleon-like role, sometimes matching Donna Elvira’s virtuosity… and at other times singing simply”

—Toronto Concert Reviews

“As Giovanni, Douglas Williams finds this balance between the perfidious rascal and the outlandish romantic. Constantly grinning with ever watchful eyes darting, Giovanni’s antics are sometimes applauded, but mostly scorned. His beautiful baritone helps to anchor the company.” —OnStage Blog

               | Idomeneo | “Neptune” | Opera Atelier | David Fallis, cond.

"Among the supporting roles, the most striking impression was made by bass-baritone Douglas Williams as Neptune. I can’t think of another Idomeneo production that manages to turn Neptune into a starring role, given he has only two minutes of music in the three-hour opera. Williams proved that he’s as godly in appearance – barechested and in tights – as he was vocally." — Joseph So, Ludwig van Toronto

“…an impeccably buffed Douglas Williams combined with his flawlessly vocal bass baritone.”

— Onstage Blog

               | Le Nozze di Figaro | Title role | Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra | Edo de Waart, cond.

Bass-baritone Douglas Williams' beautifully sung, irrepressibly charming Figaro…”

— Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

             | Le Nozze di Fagaro| Title role | Opera Atelier | David Fallis, cond.

“His velvety bass-baritone is both as muscular and lithe as Williams is physically and he acts not just with his face but his whole body… Williams’s charisma draws us to him as an enthusiastic lover of life…”

— Christopher Hoile, Stage Door

 “Douglas Williams is a lithe, kinetic Figaro who seems to throw his whole lanky frame into his vocal signature.  He has a great voice, superb acting skills and is a convincing foil for an equally eloquent Stephen Hegedus as Count Almaviva. — Stephan Bonfield, Ludwig van Toronto

“…a total natural to the role…” — Michael Johnson, ConcertoNet

PURCELL | Dido and Aeneas | "Aeneas" | Boston Early Music Festival | Stephen Stubbs and Paul O'Dette,                                          Artistic Directors

"Douglas Williams held his own as Aeneas, singing with a warm and well-deployed bass-baritone."

— The Boston Globe

"The remainder of the act belongs to Aeneas, who enters as triumphant hunter only to resign himself abjectly to the false Mercury’s command to abandon Carthage and his beloved Dido. In depicting these changing moods, baritone Douglas Williams showed his mastery of Purcell’s expressive recitative style." — Boston Musical Intelligencer

"Pudwell's Dido was more than matched by Douglas Williams's Aeneas; this young bass just keeps sounding deeper and richer, and he's a handsome, resourceful theatrical presence to boot; a debut at the Met isn't far off, if there's any justice in the world." — The Hub  

               | Dido and Aeneas | Mark Morris Dance Group | Mark Morris, cond.

“Bass-baritone Douglas Williams growled effectively as Aeneas.”

— Timothy Mangan, Orange County Register

“Bass-baritone Douglas Williams sang Aeneas with a sumptuous quality…”

— Laura Bleiberg, Los Angeles Times

“Douglas Williams was a terrific Aeneas, singing with a firmly placed bass-baritone and forthright style that suited the character.” — Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

 “…Douglas Williams, who sang both the Ferryman in Curlew River and Aeneas, seemed to have the measure of the room; he walked away with the evening’s vocal honors.” — Christopher Johnson, Zealnyc

               | King Arthur | “Cold Genuis” | Les Talens Lyrique | Christoph Rousset, cond.

“The “Cold Genius” was played in an exemplary manner by the extraordinary bass-baritone Douglas Williams—vocally perfect and, as directed by Christoph Rousset not only impressed us but also gave us a few shivers!” — Diniz Sanchez, Critical Spectacle

“…the indescribable Douglas Williams (a pretty generous voice) camped [his] characters beautifully.”

— Marcel Quillévéré, Opera Forum

RAMEAU | Io “ Jupiter “ | Opera Lafayette

“sung with godly authority”. – The Washington Post

RECITAL | Collaborative Works Festival, Chicago

“Williams displayed a heroic bass-baritone and brought an imposing presence to his selections…a powerfully dramatic account of Schumann’s “Belsazar,””

— Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

SCARLATTI | La Gloria di Primavera | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Douglas Williams provided a comically pompous and jaunty Jove.”

— Timothy Mangan, The Orange County Register

“Tenor Nicholas Phan (Inverno/Winter) sings marvelously, with great strength and heroic timbre. The man has Messiah written all over him. Ditto for bass-baritone Douglas Williams (Giove/Jove), whose handsome voice and countenance could shake a heavenly kingdom or two. His performance of the aria, “Dell’alba e dell’aurora” (When the sun first appears), is sensational.”

— Jason Victor Serinus, San Francisco Classical Voice

STRAVINSKY: The Rake’s Progress | Munich Philharmonic | Barbara Hannigan, cond.

“Douglas Williams is perfectly at ease in the role of the evil Nick Shadow. The style of a big shot with slicked-back hair suits him perfectly, and his black but brilliant tone seems made for this character. Additionally, the bass-baritone consistently gratifies us with intelligent acting and a touch of humor that makes the devil that much more sympathetic.”  -- Forum Opera

“Douglas Williams’ charcoal bass-baritone made for a suave Nick Shadow, playing the naive Tom like a violin.”  Bachtrack

“Bass-baritone Douglas Williams played the role of the devil Nick Shadow powerfully and euphoniously.”  -- Trouw

“Douglas Williams gives a solid Nick Shadow, the devil in person — his bass-baritone carrying a strong penetrating power.” -- Suddeutsche Zeitung

“The voice of Douglas Williams in the role of Nick Shadow unfolds to the extent of theatre acoustics... His middle is a velvet that responds to his jacket, his line — like his top hat — are in top form, the tubular and nourished voice is that of a handsome, charming devil with a carnivorous smile.” -- Olyrix

“Douglas Williams is powerful as a sinister Shadow.” -- De Volkskrant

“Douglas Williams as Nick Shadow was both diabolic and humorously persuasive” Opera Wire

“It was as much fun listening to Douglas Williams (Nick Shadow) who has a very flexible and great baritone voice.”  -- Musik in Dresden

TELEMANN | Pimpinone | Boston Early Music Festival
“Williams conveyed the sense of feeling bedraggled while never letting his voice flag, flipping into falsetto with ease”. – The Boston Globe