American tenor William Burden has won an outstanding reputation in a wide-ranging repertoire throughout Europe and North America.

This season, Mr. Burden returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alwa in Lulu, both the Dallas Opera and the Pittsburgh Opera as Lindoro in L'Italiana in Algeri, the Seattle Opera as Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia as the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia.  He recently made his made his acclaimed role debut as Captain Vere in Billy Budd at the Santa Fe Opera ... read full bio

American tenor William Burden has won an outstanding reputation in a wide-ranging repertoire throughout Europe and North America.

This season, Mr. Burden returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alwa in Lulu, both the Dallas Opera and the Pittsburgh Opera as Lindoro in L'Italiana in Algeri, the Seattle Opera as Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia as the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia.  He recently made his made his acclaimed role debut as Captain Vere in Billy Budd at the Santa Fe Opera.

Mr. Burden has appeared in many prestigious opera houses in the United States and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera,  Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris,  Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Thèâtre du Châtelet, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berliner Staatsoper, Madrid's Teatro Real and the Saito Kinen Festival. His many roles include the title roles of Faust, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Rake's Progress, Roméo et Juliette, Béatrice and Bénédict, Candide, and Acis and Galatea; Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Pylade in Iphigénie en Tauride, Narraboth in Salome, Gerald in Lakmé, Fenton in Falstaff, Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Aschenbach in Death in Venice.  He also created the role of Gilbert Griffiths in the world premiere of Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera.

In concert, Mr. Burden has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Les Arts Florissants at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Barcelona and Lyon.

Mr. Burden's recordings include Barber's Vanessa (Anatol) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the Chandos label and Musique adorable: The Songs of Emmanuel Chabrier for the Hyperion label.

Raised in Florida, Mr. Burden received his master's degree in Vocal Performance at Indiana University. He was also a member of the Merola Program in San Francisco and at the Apprentice Artists Program at the Santa Fe Opera