Biography
With more than forty operatic roles to his credit, baritone Bill McMurray has been described as “a baritone with warm, rich tones and superb stage presence” by the Durham Herald Sun. Such roles include “Figaro” in Il baribiere di Sivigila, “Count Almaviva” in Le nozze di Figaro and “Escamillo” in Carmen. Walter Marini of the New Buffalo Times is quoted as saying his portrayal of “Marcello” in Puccini’s La Boheme is “a powerful actor who brings great elegance to the role. His singing is as fine as anything being heard in major opera houses today.” Recent engagements include his first major Russian role as “Ibn Hakia” in Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta with Chicago Opera Theater. He debuted with the Illinois Philharmonic as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah, then returned to Chicago Opera Theater this past winter for the Midwest premiere of Stefan Weisman’s opera The Scarlet Ibis. He concluded his 2018-19 solo season with the symphony orchestra at the University of Chicago as the baritone soloist in Michael Tippett’s oratorio A Child of Our Time, conducted by Barbara Schubert.
Other recent engagements include his first Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata with Harbor Country Opera in Three Oaks, Michigan, concerts with the New Philharmonic Orchestra in Glen Ellyn, and the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Elmhurst Orchestra and Choral Society. Additionally, he sang the role of Mr. Greatorex with Chicago Opera Theater in the world premiere opera Elizabeth Cree, then returned to Summer Garden Opera in Virginia to reprise the role of Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Walter Martini of the New Buffalo Times reviewed his performance of Marcello in Puccini’s La Boheme, saying he was “a powerful actor who brings great elegance to the role. His singing is as fine as anything being heard in major opera houses today.”
Highlights of his 2019-20 season has Bill singing his first baritone solo in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, as well as the role of “Riff” in a concert version of West Side Story with the same orchestra later this season. He will make his debut with Opera San Antonio in the role of “Marullo” in the opera Rigoletto in the Spring of 2020.
Previous engagements include his first “Germont” in Verdi’s La Traviata with Harbor County Opera in Three Oaks, Michigan. Additionally, in 2018 he sang the role of “Mr Greatorex” with Chicago Opera Theater in the world premiere opera Elizabeth Cree, then returned to Summer Garden Opera in Virginia to reprise his signature role of “Figaro” in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Bill sang the lead role of “Prospero” in Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest with Longleaf Opera in NC, while the composer himself was in attendance and received outstanding reviews for his performance. He has sung with noted companies like Florida Grand Opera, Opera North, Knoxville Opera, The Opera Company of NC, Mobile Opera, Opera Carolina, Central City Opera and Opera on the James. Mr. McMurray has also performed several times with the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “Opera in the Neighborhoods” and “Meet the Artist” outreach programs. In 2013 Bill sang the lead role in the Chicago premiere of Der Kaisser von Atlantis at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion with the New Millennium Orchestra under the baton of Francesco Milioto.
Read more... Equally successful on the concert stage, Bill has sung solos in such oratorios as Handel’s Messiah, which he recorded on CD, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as works such as Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, and the Faure Requiem. Concert appearances include the New Philharmonic Orchestra in Glen Ellyn, the Elmhurst Orchestra and Choral Society, Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Skokie Valley Symphony, Chicago Arts Orchestra, New Millennium Orchestra and the Waukegan Symphony. He performed a set of Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs with The Chicago Civic Orchestra and was the baritone soloist in a concert version of Porgy and Bess with Northwest Indiana Symphony. Mr. McMurray was also a featured soloist in Florence and Rome, Italy with the combined choirs of St John Cantius Church and St Joseph College. In the summer of 2017, at the Ravinia Festival, he was the bass soloist in the final movement of Haydn’s The Creation, conducted by former Metropolitan Opera Music Director, James Levine. He is a previous first place winner of the National Association Teachers of Singing competition and was one of eight singers selected to the Winners Circle of The Classical Music Vocal Competition, which was held in Chicago. . .
Reviews
“Company regular Bill McMurray was well suited to the role of Father. The burly singer was a strong yet sensitive paternal figure, his baritone warm yet pliant in his solo moments.”
Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review
The Scarlet Ibis – 2019
“We have been continuously delighted and impressed with the talent of baritone Bill McMurray. His sturdy baritone is capable of a range of color that bordered on fearsome as Ibn-Hakia in Iolanta earlier this season but was warm and paternal in this role. He portrayed the role of Father with pathos, dignity, and an uncanny honesty. Each time Mr. McMurray went to his shop, it brought tears to our eyes, either from sadness or gladness. His “Coffin” aria was heart wrenching in the direct simplicity of a father’s pain. In his “Red Wagon” aria, McMurray perfectly captures a simple working man’s determination to make his son’s life better than his own.”
William and Margaret Swain, Buzznews.net
The Scarlet Ibis – 2019
“It is on this ramp that we see the studied slow motion plodding walk of the father (Bill McMurray) to build a coffin for his newborn deformed son, that speaks to the moment’s sorrow as powerfully as his stop-you-in-your-tracks voice. It is here also that we see the indignity of death for The Scarlet Ibis as she is prodded with stick to her grave.”
Amy Munice, Picture This Post
The Scarlet Ibis – 2019
“Company regular Bill McMurray brought an authoritative bass-baritone and dignified presence to Ibn-Hakia, the holistic physician who communicates the secret of restoring Iolanta’s vision.”
Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review
Iolanta – 2019
“Bill McMurray, as Dr. Ibn Hakla, delivered a slightly more dramatic sound which suited the mystically transcendental requirements of that role. His aria was vocally spectacular, even if the staging was somewhat obtuse.”
William and Margaret Swain, Buzznews.net
Iolanta – 2019
“As Marcello…Bill McMurray…gave the audience some terrific singing. Chicago baritone Bill McMurray gives a wonderfully individual interpretation of the painter Marcello. Having sat through scores of performances of blustery, barking Marcellos, this reviewer found it refreshing to hear this role actually sung and not shouted. McMurray is a powerful actor and brings great elegance to the role. His singing is as fine as anything being heard in major opera houses today. One hopes to hear more of him in this area.”
Walter Martini, New Buffalo Times
La Boheme – 2013
“Baritone Bill McMurray gave a solid account of this psycho-musical study of love and loss, intelligently limning the labile emotional shifts of “Ich hab’ ein glühend’ Messer” and providing some deftly floated pianissimos.”
Mark Thomas Ketterson, Concertonet.com
Songs of a Wayfarer – 2008
“Bill McMurray imbues the lusty Count with a surprising amount of sex appeal…”
D.L. Groover, Houston Press
Marriage of Figaro – 2007
Dear Bill,
Once more, let me thank you for a most beautiful creation of my Prospero. I would love to have you sing the enclosed, and will recommend you any time I have the chance.
Sincerely,
Lee
Lee HoibyComposer
Audio
Mahler – Ging heu morgan ubers feld
Songs of the Wayfarer
Mahler – Ich hab ein gluhend Messer
Songs of the Wayfarer
Mahler – Die zwei blauen augen vom meinem Schatz
Songs of the Wayfarer
Handel – The People that Walked in Darkness
Messiah
Gershwin – I got plenty of Nutin’
Porgy and Bess
Gershwin – A Women is a Sometime Thing
Porgy and Bess
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Video
Bill McMurray sings:
Largo al factotum
Bill McMurray sings
Au fond du temple Saint
Bill McMurray sings:
It take a long pull to get there
Bill McMurray sings:
Vision Fugitive
Artist in Action
Bill McMurray in Performance