William Boggs
Conductor
William Boggs, Artistic Director of Opera Columbus, is consistently praised by critics as "daring," "enlightened," "superbly musical," and "sensual." His repertoire includes the works of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, Gounod, Bizet, Menotti, and Adamo. He has led some of the company's greatest successes including The Barber of Seville, The Magic Flute, Carmen, Pirates of Penzance and Macbeth. As the former General Director of Columbus Light Opera, where he received tenure, he produced over 200 performances of the works of Strauss, Léhar, Offenbach, Gilbert and Sullivan, Friml, Romberg, and Herbert, including The Gondoliers, The Merry Widow, La Traviata, Die Flederamaus, and La Bohéme. Maestro Boggs also served as Music Director of the Welsh Hills Symphony Orchestra, the third conductor in its sixty-year history.
In the 2008-2009 Season and beyond, he conducts The Student Prince with Nashville Opera, Pirates of Penzance with Indianapolis Opera, a Mario Lanza tribute concert for the Fresno Grand Opera, Elmer Gantry remount at Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, and Opera Columbus' production of Pearl Fishers, The Mikado, and Turandot. In the recent 2007-2008 Season, he conducted the world premiere of Robert Aldridge's Elmer Gantry with Nashville Opera, Die Fledermaus with Opera Carolina, and the Opera Columbus's productions of La Boheme and La Cenerentola.
In addition, Maestro Boggs conducted his debut with the International Festival of Macau in performances of Chicago, as well as performances of Magic Flute with Hawaii Opera, Noye's Fludde and The Mikado with Mississippi Opera, The Merry Widow and Die Fledermaus with The Baltimore Opera, Cavalleria Rusticana with Cincinnati Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Dayton Opera, and Die Fledermaus with Opera Saskatchewan, La Cenerentola at Lake George Opera and Opera Saskatchewan, Die Fledermaus with Baltimore Opera, Tosca with Piedmont Opera, Aida with Fresno Grand Opera, as well as leading Opera Columbus' productions of Aida, Three Penny Opera, Madama Butterfly, Magic Flute, Camelot, Carmen, and The Barber of Seville.
As an orchestral guest conductor, Maestro Boggs has performed symphonic works of Mozart, Bernstein and Bizet with the Columbus Symphony, the works of Bach, Mozart and Handel with the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the works of Sibelius, Respighi, and Mendelssohn with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, the works of Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Mozart with the Louisville Orchestra, the works of Frank, Stravinsky and Copland with the Orquestra Sinfonica del Estada de Mexico, and holds the title Conductor Emeritus of the Welsh Hills Symphony Orchestra.
Maestro Boggs received his Bachelor of Music, cum laude from Ohio State University where he went on to earn a Master of Music in Conducting and worked on his Doctoral Studies in Opera Production. He continued his Postgraduate Studies in Conducting with The Juilliard School in New York.