OPERA BIO

Will Upham is quickly gaining a reputation as an exciting, visceral, and versatile lyric tenor. Ably spanning the repertoire gamut, Mr. Upham will soon perform as Beadle Bamford in I.U. Opera Theater’s highly-anticipated production of Sweeney Todd and later as tenor soloist in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. Summer 2024 will find Mr. Upham at Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist, where he will cover the role of Herod and perform as First Jew in Salome, among other performing opportunities with the company.

Last summer 2023, Mr. Upham served as Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival, where he covered the role of Roméo and performed as Benvolio in Roméo et Juliette. Also recently, he performed as tenor soloist at Indiana University in both Howells and Schnittke’s Requiems and in Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien. Of further note, he created the role of Comrade Belka in an I.U. Opera Theatre workshop production of Martin Hennessy’s new work, Swimming in the Dark.

Last spring 2023, Mr. Upham served as Resident Artist at Indianapolis Opera under the direction of David Starkey. There he performed as Donald Hopewell in Moore’s Gallantry, as Monostatos and Tamino (cover) in The Magic Flute, and in a children’s opera entitled The Monon Town Musicians.

In summer 2022, Mr. Upham made his international debut with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and served as Rodolfo (cover) in La Boheme. That spring, Mr. Upham debuted with the Dallas Opera as Nemorino in their Education Artist production of The Elixir of Love, performing the opera numerous times over the course of ten months. Additionally, Mr. Upham performed as Reverend Samuel Parris in The Crucible with Southern Methodist University Lyric Theatre.

Other past season highlights include the role of Alfredo (cover) in La Traviata with La Musica Lirica in Baraboo, Wisconsin, as well as the roles of Il Principe Aprile in Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco, Jamie Wellerstein in Brown’s The Last Five Years, Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Eddie Souther in Alan Menken’s Sister Act, Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, and Lippo Fiorentino in Weill’s Street Scene, all with DePauw Opera Theatre.

A native of Franklin, Indiana, Will Upham is currently pursuing his Performer Diploma in Voice Performance at the internationally-acclaimed Indiana University School of Music under the tutelage of renowned Metropolitan Opera bass, Peter Volpe. Previously, Mr. Upham received his Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Southern Methodist University, where he studied with Clifton Forbis and his Bachelor of Music degree, also in Vocal Performance but with a minor in Political Science, from DePauw University. Mr. Upham resides in Bloomington, Indiana as he prepares to take the world by storm as a professional opera/concert tenor.

VIDEO (more coming soon)

Max’s Aria: Durch Die Walder Durch Die Auen / Der Freischütz (Weber)

Lonely House / Street Scene (Weill)

Deposuit / Magnificat BWV 243 (J.S. Bach)

RESUME

CAREER INFLUENCES

Conductors:  Dominick DiOrio, Alfred Savia, Paul Phillips, Marcello Cormio

Directors:  Michael Shell, Simon Godwin, Carol Vaness, Hank Hammett

Voice Teachers:  Peter Volpe (current), Clifton Forbis, Caroline Smith

Coaches:  Mary Dibbern, Brian Bentley, Jeffrey Price, Amanda Hopson