William Lumpkin
Associate Professor of Music; Artistic Director, Opera Institute
William Lumpkin‘s extensive repertoire and career have led to engagements with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Boston Lyric Opera, having previously served on the music staff for Los Angeles Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, and Wolf Trap Opera. Additionally, Maestro Lumpkin led performances of the Mary Zimmerman production of Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s New Wave Festival, having previously conducted world premiere performances at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
Most recently, Mr. Lumpkin conducted performances of Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Opera Grand Rapids with members of the Grand Rapids Symphony in a production directed by Eve Summer. Mr. Lumpkin conducted the American premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Flight with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and again for Boston Lyric Opera, which Opera News praised, stating “Dove’s impressive score was conducted wonderfully by another veteran of the Saint Louis production, William Lumpkin.” Additional credits at St. Louis include La Bohème, The Magic Flute, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Hansel and Gretel. He also joined Boston Lyric Opera to conduct Così fan tutte. Of this production, Opera News stated “Lumpkin kept his players and singers under firm control, at the same time allowing them sufficient liberty to bring out nuances in their performances,” and the Boston Globe noted “His work had brio, style, and heart, and the orchestra played beautifully for him.”
As Associate Professor of Music and the Artistic Director and Conductor for the Opera Institute at Boston University, he has conducted over 40 opera productions, including a co-production with Glimmerglass Opera of E. Loren Meeker’s production of Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen”, a co-commission with New York City Opera of Tobias Picker’s chamber version of his opera “Dolores Claiborne”, and a concert version of “Vanessa” with Boston University alum Lauren Flanigan. He has also appeared as guest conductor at Indiana University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
As a pianist, Mr. Lumpkin collaborated with Juliana Gondek recording Roger Bourland’s “Four Quartets of Songs and Arias” for Navona Records.
A native of Lewisburg, PA, Mr. Lumpkin holds a BM from the Eastman School of Music, an MM in Conducting from UCSB, and a D.M.A. from the University of Southern California.
