Department of Music Faculty
Willie Anthony WatersConductor, Opera(860) 486-3728
In 2002, Waters made his debut at New York City Opera conducting Rigoletto and returned the next season for Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men. He has conducted recordings with opera greats Simon Estes and Shirley Verrett and two gala concerts (for Connecticut Opera and Opera Colorado) with renowned mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. In March, 2005, he celebrated the 25th anniversary of his conducting debut with Connecticut Opera. In May, 2005, the Hartt School at the University of Hartford awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contributions to the musical life of the city of Hartford, Connecticut. A graduate of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, Waters was honored as the school's second "Distinguished Alumnus" in 1985. Waters is a frequent guest panelist on the quiz of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, and for many years hosted a monthly program, "Looking Through the Opera Glasses," on Beethoven.com. In July, 2008, he made his debut at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, conducting the Cape Town Opera production of Porgy and Bess. (He had conducted the first-ever production of Porgy and Bess in South Africa at the Cape Town Opera in 1995.) He recently conducted Connecticut Opera's production of Don Giovanni, a concert with the Hartford Symphony in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday (the third such concert he conducted with the orchestra), and a concert performance of Il Trovatore for Eugene (Oregon) Opera. Among his engagements during the 2009–2010 season, are productions of Die Fledermaus for Opera Hamilton (Ontario) and the University of Connecticut's Opera Theater, Il Trovatore for Opera Naples (Florida), and Carmen for Florida Grand Opera. Waters serves as music director of Prelude to Performance, a summer training program for young singers sponsored by the Martina Arroyo Foundation in New York City, and as co-director of the UConn Opera Theater. |
Willie Anthony Waters is formerly general and artistic director of Connecticut Opera. Prior to that he was artistic director and principal conductor of Greater Miami Opera (now Florida Grand Opera). He conducted numerous noteworthy productions for Connecticut Opera, including the Arena production of Aïda in 1991, Otello in 1997, Porgy and Bess in 1998 and Salome in 2003. He has been a guest conductor for the Arizona Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Cologne Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Kentucky Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opéra de Montréal, Orlando Opera, San Diego Opera, Vancouver Opera, Opéra de Québec, and opera companies and symphony orchestras in Cape Town, Pretoria, and Durban, South Africa. Among his orchestral engagements are performances with the Hartford Symphony, Florida Philharmonic, and the Detroit Symphony as well as several European orchestras. Waters serves as opera conductor and artistic director of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild.