Biography
American Tenor William Ottow, a graduate of the Young Artist Program at Chicago Opera Theater, is a vibrant, young singer on the precipice of an exciting career. He is currently engaged with the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Outside of Den Kongelige Opera, William is known for seeking out innovative productions of new and rarely done opera, already with multiple world premieres under his belt. His performances are admired for his clear vocal timbre, committed acting and memorable stage presence.
With the Danish Royal Opera he made his European debut as Un servo d’Amelia in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, and has also made solo appearances in La Traviata, Shostakovitch’s The Nose, Heisse’s Drot og Marsk, and Bent Sørensen’s new Asle og Alida. This upcoming season will see him as Gran Sacerdote di Nettuno in Mozart’s Idomeneo.
Due to COVID-19’s impact on COT and the performing world, William was unable to take the stage for the 2020-21 season. Among performances he has lost include his first two mainstage roles with Chicago Opera Theater, First Important Person, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, and Donnie/Bus Driver/Preacher in Kamala Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents, as well as a cover of Mario in Daniel Catán’s Il Postino. William was also unable to perform in COT’s newly commissioned operas for their Vanguard Composer initiative as Hotel Manager in Stacy Garrop and Jerre Dye’s The Transformation of Jane Doe, and Gil in Matthew Recio and Royce Vavrek’s The Puppy Episode. Outside of COT he would have also been seen with Haymarket Opera (Chicago) and as the titular Ercole in Vivaldi’s Ercole sul Termodonte with the Pacific Opera Project.
In his first season with COT he covered Rob Hall and the Young Gypsy in COT’s double bill of Joby Talbot’s Everest and Rachmaninoff’s Aleko as well as covering Marc in the world premiere of Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride. He also workshopped his aforementioned roles in Kamala Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents and Stacy Garrop’s The Transformation of Jane Doe.
William holds a Master’s Degree from Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Jennifer Aylmer and consistently performed leading roles with CMU Opera, beginning with Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and subsequently Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto and Azor in Zémire et Azor. In addition he originated the role of Milo in My Opera Nemesis, and Charles in languagemachine two world premieres written and performed by CMU students and produced in coordination with Pittsburgh Opera. During the 2018-19 season he also performed as a soloist with the CMU Wind Ensemble, as a member of the Baroque Ensemble and was seen as Judas in Judas Maccabaeus in a CMU Chamber Ensemble.
Already in his young career William has many professional credits to his name; he made his professional debut as a Studio Artist with Madison Opera in their 2015-16 season singing Parpignol in La bohème. With Madison Opera he also covered Laurie in Little Women and sang Nathanaël in The Tales of Hoffmann. In subsequent years he performed Farmer Bunce in Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox with Opera Steamboat, and Egeo in Cavalli’s Il Giasone and Emilio in Handel’s Partenope, both with Opera NEO. The San Diego Story’s review of his work in the Handel gem was glowing: “William Ottow’s bright, muscular tenor and bold stage presence proved ideal for Emilio.” More recently while earning his Master’s he was also seen as a soloist with Pittsburgh’s Resonance Works in their St. John Passion and joined Teatro Nuovo as a Studio Artist.
William received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied with Julia Faulkner and James Doing. There he was regularly seen with UW Opera; his notable credits begin with Albert in Albert Herring, where Madison’s arts review journal, Isthmus, raved: “Special praise is due to that night's singer in the title role, the clear-voiced tenor William Ottow.” He followed that performance with Tamino in Die Zauberflöte before graduating and #6 in Conrad Susa’s Transformations as a guest artist after receiving his degree.
William is currently a student of Louise Fribo in Copenhagen.