BETH WILLIAMS

Mezzo Soprano

Beth Williams studied voice under Jon Weaving at the University of Melbourne, and completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours in 1999. She concurrently undertook operatic studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, completing her Graduate Diploma in Opera. In 1999 she participated in masterclasses at the Australian National Academy of Music, working with artists including Gregory Yurisich, Sarah Walker, Gerald English and Marilyn Richardson. In 2002 Beth completed her doctoral thesis on the history of vocal pedagogy in Australia.

Beth made her operatic debut in Prokofiev’s L’amour des trois oranges, and in 1997 played the Dragonfly and Cane Chair in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortileges for the Melbourne Festival. Other roles that she has performed include Mother Bayard, in Hindemith’s The Long Christmas Dinner, Martha in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Nancy in Albert Herring, Christina in Ross Edwards’ Christina’s World, and Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Opera companies that Beth has appeared with include Operalive, OzOpera, and Co-Opera. Orchestras that Beth has sung with include the Victorian Camerata Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Youth Orchestra Camerata, and the Victorian College of the Arts Orchestra. Upcoming performances include Vivaldi’s Gloria in December, and the St David’s Day concert in 2007 with the Australian Welsh Male Choir.