Will Todd


William Todd is an English classical composer and pianist.

Biography

Todd was born in County Durham, attended Durham School and joined the choir of St Oswald's Church, Durham under its choirmaster David Higgins. He went on to study music at the University of Bristol. He is an accomplished jazz pianist and regularly performs with his trio, and this played a large role in one of his most famous works, his Mass in Blue.
Mass in Blue was commissioned by and first performed at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in July 2003 with Will Todd at the piano. Todd's wife, Bethany Halliday, performed the soprano solo alongside the Blue Planet Orchestra and Hertfordshire Chorus, conducted by David Temple.
His The Blackened Man won second prize in the International Verdi Opera Competition in 2002 and was later staged at the 2004 Buxton Festival. The Screams of Kitty Genovese, a music theatre work, has been produced at the Boston Conservatory and New York Musical Theatre Festival. His oratorio Saint Cuthbert, with a libretto by Ben Dunwell based on the life of the saint, has been performed and recorded by the Hallé Orchestra and Choir under Christopher Austin.
Among Angels was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and was premiered by The Sixteen in Salzburg. Written for WNO Max, Sweetness and Badness was performed in a tour during autumn 2006, and Whirlwind, commissioned by Streetwise Opera, was first performed at The Sage Gateshead.

Works