James Morris

Legendary bass-baritone James Morris is world famous for his performances in opera, concert, recital, and recording. With a repertoire including works by Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Mozart, Gounod and Britten, Mr. Morris has performed in virtually every international opera house and has appeared with the major orchestras of Europe and the United States.

Considered one of the greatest interpreters of the role of Wotan in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, Mr. Morris has appeared in this role at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera and many others. He is also highly acclaimed for the title role in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, as well as Scarpia in Tosca in the major houses of the United States and Europe.

Mr. Morris’ celebrated career at the Metropolitan Opera has included three complete cycles of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, both recorded for television and available on DVD.  He originated the role of John Claggart in the MET premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd and has repeated the role in each revival.  Frequently performed roles at the MET include the title role in Der fliegende Holländer (new production), Scarpia in Tosca, The Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and the title roles in Don Giovanni and Boris Godunov.

Concert appearances have included performances with the world’s celebrated orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, London’s BBC Proms, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; the Chicago Symphony and several appearances at the Cincinnati May Festival. He has also appeared frequently in recitals in cities including Minneapolis, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

Mr. Morris’s extensive discography includes two complete Ring cycles, one for Deutsche Grammophon under James Levine and one for EMI under Bernard Haitink, and other operas of Wagner, Offenbach, Mozart, Massenet, Verdi and Gounod. He has recorded operas by Donizetti, Puccini, Bellini and Thomas with Dame Joan Sutherland, and his orchestral recordings include Haydn’s Creation, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” and the Requiems by Mozart and Fauré.  He also has a recording of arias by Verdi and Wagner by Mr. Morris is available on the Angel/EMI label.

James Morris is a four-time Grammy winner: for Best Opera Recording for Die Walküre (1989) and Das Rheingold (1990) both with the Metropolitan Opera and for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony (Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance 2009).   He was also nominated for Thomas’ “Desire Under the Elms” (Best Opera Recording 2003), and Siegfried (Best Opera Recording1992).

In 2014 James Morris was appointed to the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music as Professor of Voice.

Born and educated in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Morris studied at the Peabody Conservatory and studied with Rosa Ponselle. He continued his education at the Philadelphia Academy of Vocal Arts where he studied with basso Nicola Moscona.