Praised for his sonorous and flexible bass voice, William Meinert recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Carceriere in Tosca. Recent performances include Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Lord Rochefort in Anna Bolena, La voce di Nettuno in Idomeneo, Titurel in Parsifal, Gran Sacerdote in Nabucco, and Antinoo in Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria. As a member of the ensemble at Bühnen Bern, this season he will perform Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Sarastro and Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, and Gremin in Eugene Onegin.
William made his European debut in 2022 with Tiroler Festspiele Erl as Mordred in Le roi Arthus, joined the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Neumarkt i.d.OPf., Germany, and returned to the United States to perform Sarastro in The Magic Flute with Opera Orlando and Sodbuster in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up with Opera Las Vegas.
In the 2021-22 season, he debuted with Santa Fe Opera as Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and with Dallas Opera as the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly. He also joined Atlanta Opera as a Studio Artist, debuting as Curio in Giulio Cesare. On the concert stage, he performed as bass soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah, with the NEC Philharmonia & Symphonic Choir in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 “Babi Yar,” and with the American Bach Soloists in “Pious & Profane,” a concert of Monteverdi madrigals and sacred works.
William is the First Prize Winner of the 2022 Shreveport Opera Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition and the 2019 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, and a finalist of the 2022 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition. He is a graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist program at Washington National Opera, where he performed Sarastro in The Magic Flute and the Secret Police Agent in The Consul. He has sung Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni (Baltimore Concert Opera), Commentator in Derrick Wang's Scalia/Ginsburg (Opera North), Vodník in Rusalka (Madison Opera), and Le Duc in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (Pensacola Opera). As a Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist, he covered Hjarne and Corbin in the world premiere of Poul Ruders’ The Thirteenth Child in 2019. He has been featured in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 with American Bach Soloists, and Handel’s Messiah with Washington Bach Consort.
“...une voix bien projetée et bien contrôlée au phrasé impeccable et assez expressive.”
“...a well-projected and well-controlled voice with impeccable and quite expressive phrasing.”
“superbe voix de basse magnifiquement projetée”
“superb, magnificently projected bass voice”
“William Meinert s’illustre par la solidité de sa voix de basse”
“William Meinert stands out for the solidity of his bass voice”
“William Meinert active de larges résonateurs et ouvre grandes ses voyelles, pour creuser une voix caverneuse.”
“William Meinert activates large resonators and opens his vowels wide, to create a cavernous voice.”
“Meinert’s rendition was not only vocally powerful, but had sharp timing and speed to match his strength...”
“William Meinert wielded a youthful bass-baritone that boasted a luxurious, plushy quality like the fuzz on a deep-red plum.”
“basse caressante [...] toute de douceur”
“a bass with a caressing voice, full of gentleness”
“Como el Antinoo de William Meinert, que dejó la huella de una voz timbrada y libre, sonora y de notable extensión...”
“William Meinert’s Antinoo left the mark of a free and timbered voice, sonorous and of remarkable extension...”
“William Meinert gave us an impressively firm column of sound”
“basse sonore et fort ronde”
“a sonorous and very round bass voice”
“William Meinert held his own in this august company [...], his rich vibrant bass easily filling the house.”
“William Meinert as Varlaam [was] particularly charismatic, with [...] an exhilarating comic flair.”