Samling Artists

William Thomas

Bass, Samling Artist Programme: 2021

William Thomas with Sir Mark Elder, Samling Artist Programme, Marchmont House. Photo credit: Mark Pinder

British bass William Thomas is a recent graduate of the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and recipient of a number of major awards, including the Kathleen Ferrier Award and John Christie Award in 2018, and the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition in 2019. He is a 2021-23 BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist.

As a Jerwood Young Artist he sang the role of Nicholas in the British premiere of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa at the Glyndebourne Festival. Other recent appearances include Shepherd Pelléas et Mélisande (Garsington Opera), Snug, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Vienna State Opera) Zweiter Priester/Zweiter Geharnischter, Die Zauberflöte (Glyndebourne) and Colline La bohème at Alexandra Palace for the English National Opera.

Upcoming engagements include Ashby La fanciulla del West (Verbier Festival Orchestra/Valery Gergiev); Priest/Badger/Harašta The Cunning Little Vixen (concert performance with CBSO/Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla); Parsi Rustomji Satyagraha, Sciarrone Tosca and Colline La bohème for the English National Opera; a return to Glyndebourne and debuts with the Opéra de Rouen Normandie and the Opéra national de Paris.

Concert engagements have included Bach’s Johannes-Passion with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/Sir John Eliot Gardiner; Messiah with the Orchestra of the English National Opera/Laurence Cummings; Bartok Cantata Profana with the London Symphony Orchestra/François-Xavier Roth and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre national de Lyon/Alan Gilbert.

William will perform in our Samling Artist Showcase at Wigmore Hall on 7 November 2021.

Samling Institute for Young Artists is a leading global authority in the training of young voices.

Since 1996, the Samling Artist Programme has provided intensive residential masterclass weeks for early-career singers and pianists, followed by professional development and support through our activities and established networks.

Find out more
Samling Artist Programme | All Samling Artists

William Thomas working with Sir Thomas Allen, Samling Artist Programme, Marchmont House. Photo credit: Mark Pinder

Samling Institute for Young Artists is a leading global authority in the training of young voices.

Since 1996, the Samling Artist Programme has provided intensive residential masterclass weeks for early-career singers and pianists, followed by professional development and support through our activities and established networks.

Find out more
Samling Artist Programme | All Samling Artists