William Berger

William Berger ("...one of the best of our younger baritones." Gramophone Magazine) is an Associate and graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, and was also a  member of ENO’s Young Singers Programme where his roles included Schaunard La Boheme, Masetto Don Giovanni, Prince Yamadori Madam Butterfly, David A Hand of Bridge, Fiorello Barber of Seville, Monsieur Javelinot The Carmelites, Second Nazarene Salome, Novice’s Friend Billy Budd, Shepherd Orfeo and Grimbald, Aeolus & He King Arthur. Other operatic performances include working for the Festival Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, the Internationale Handel-Festspiele Göttingen, the Handel & Haydn Society (Boston) and the Mark Morris Dance Company in roles including Zebul Jeptha, Guglielmo Cosi fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, Papageno Magic Flute, Count Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro and Harasta The Cunning Little Vixen.

In concert William has performed with the CBSO, LPO, English Concert, Philharmonia Baroque (San Francisco), Hanover Band and Cape Town Philharmonic in repertoire including Carmina Burana, Faure Requiem, Messiah, Elijah, Weinachts Oratorium, Saint Saens’ Oratoire de Noel, Handel's Apollo e Dafne and the world premiere of The Angry Garden by Michael Stimpson. Recitals include his Wigmore Hall debut and Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch (Oxford Lieder Festival) as well as two recordings: Songs of Spring and October Roses. He has recently also recorded the role of Manoa in Handel's Samson, which goes on general release in March 2009.

Winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers in 1999, he was also awarded a Countess of Munster Trust Scholarship, an MBF grant and the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award. Forthcoming engagements include Valetto L'incoronazione di Poppea (Liceu, Barcelona), Ercole Admeto (Internationale Handel-Festspiele Göttingen), The Edinburgh International Festival 2009, Lucifero La Resurrezione & Apollo Apollo e Dafne (Festival Baroque Australia), Aneas Dido & Aneas with Susan Graham(Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles), Brahms Requiem (St. John's, Smith Square & Birmingham City Hall), Gilles Requiem conducted by Andrew Parrott and Mahler Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen.