William Pedersen
William Pedersen comes from a musical family, with both parents being professional opera singers. After graduating from Sankt Annæ Gymnasium, the young Danish baritone trained at some of Europe’s leading conservatories: the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with Professor Kirsten Buhl Møller, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich with KS Professor Andreas Schmidt, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Professor Susan McCulloch and Christine Cairns. William has also participated in numerous masterclasses with, among others, KS Bo Skovhus, Yvonne Kenny, and Malcolm Martineau. He continues to refine his artistry in collaboration with Professor Susan McCulloch and Associate Professor Ulrich Stærk.
Most recently, William could be heard as Don Giovanni in Operaen i Midtens critically acclaimed production, as well as Happy in La fanciulla del West at Opera Hedeland.
On stage, he has performed roles such as Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Marullo (Rigoletto), Dancaïre (Carmen), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Ken Skade/Cascada (The Merry Widow 2.0), Ivan Ivanovich (The Nose), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Calchas (La belle Hélène), as well as a number of world premieres. These roles have taken him to venues including the Royal Danish Theatre, Opera Hedeland, Den Ny Opera, and on tour throughout Denmark.
As a recital singer, William has collaborated with pianist Laurits Dragsted to premiere numerous songs by his father, Jørn Pedersen, as well as larger works by Matti Borg, Vaughan Williams, and Finzi. He has also worked on repertoire by Schumann, Brahms, and Nielsen and made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2018 with a programme of Schubert songs for male vocal ensemble.
William has been a soloist in works such as Mozart’s, Brahms’s, and Fauré’s Requiems, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and St Matthew Passion, as well as Handel’s Messiah. He has appeared repeatedly as a soloist at the Copenhagen Opera Festival, the Festival del Alta Val Nervia in Italy, and toured throughout Denmark with OperetteKompagniet.
