William McGraw, baritone
William McGraw, baritone, is currently a Professor of Vocal Studies at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mr. McGraw has performed opera, oratorio, and various concert works as well as recitals both nationally and internationally. Mr. McGraw's operatic roles include Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Marcello in La Bohème, Rigoletto in Rigoletto, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Germont in La Traviata, and John Proctor in The Crucible. He has performed other roles with such companies as Greater Miami Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Kentucky Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Shreveport Opera, and Boston Opera, among others. Mr. McGraw has performed concert works with the symphony orchestras of Seattle, Indianapolis, Memphis and New Jersey. He has also performed at Carnegie Hall as a soloist in conjunction with the New York Choral Society.

William McGraw has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra numerous times since his debut in 1988, including Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite with narrator Werner Klemperer; and in concert versions of Tristan und Isolde and Lohengrin, performing the roles of Melot and the Herald, respectively. He can be heard on the CSO’s recording of La Vida Breve for Telarc. Mr. McGraw is a regular featured artist with the Cincinnati May Festival under the direction of James Conlon, and can be heard in Liszt’s St. Stanislaus, also recorded for Telarc.

Professor McGraw has served during various seasons as a faculty member in CCM’s Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, a program for emerging young artists set in Puccini’s home city in Tuscany, Italy. He has also presented recitals and master classes at Emory University, the University of Tennessee, Hollins College and Ferrum College. Mr. McGraw is proud to have current and former students who have performed or are performing in the opera houses of Bonn, Bremen, Paris, Salzburg, San Francisco, Houston, Santa Fe, Cincinnati, New York City and others. His students have performed under the batons of Robert Shaw, Seiji Ozawa, Jesús López-Cobos, James Conlon and others. They are engaged in summer music programs such as Santa Fe, Aspen, and Spoleto. Professor McGraw is also proud to have doctoral students teaching successfully in a number of respected universities in the United States.