Will Todd was born and brought up in County Durham and taught himself the piano from an early age. His output includes opera, musicals, oratorio, orchestral works and works for children and amateur performers, and his work has been featured on BBC Radio 2 and 3 and Classic FM, and performed all over the UK, Europe and in the USA. His theatre works have been produced at The Buxton Opera Festival; The Millenium Centre (WNO); The Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House; The New York Music Theatre Festival; The Public Theater New York; and The Sage Gatehead, and he has collaborated with some of the UK’s most high profile directors including Keith Warner, David Edwards, John Caird and Jonathan Munby.
His opera The Blackened Man was a finalist in the 2002 InternationalGuiseppe Verdi Opera Competition.The Screams of Kitty Genovese has had 3 productions in the US following successful development work both there and in the UK. Will Todd has also written the music for a number of other stage works including Isambard Kingdom Brunel; Tales from the End of Northworld; Daniel and the Pride of Kings and Whirlwind (commissioned by the award winning Streetwise Opera).
The oratorio Saint Cuthbert (based on the life of the great Northumbrian saint) was recorded by The Hallé Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Christopher Austin. Another work with a North Eastern theme is the cantata The Burning Road - a stirring reflection on the 1936 Jarrow March, commissioned by Northampton Bach Choir to celebrate the march’s 60 th anniversary. It was released in 1999 on Silva Classics with Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by David Temple.
Will Todd’s most frequently performed work is a jazz setting of the Latin mass - Mass in Blue, commissioned by Hertfordshire Chorus, and performed more than twenty times since its 2003 premiere, as well featuring on two commercial recordings - most recently by the Vasari Singers for Signum Records (2006) . Future performances are planned in the US, Europe and all over the UK. Will Todd has worked with some of the UK’s most acclaimed choral conductors including Harry Christophers, Jonathan Willcocks, Andrew Carwood, David Temple and Sarah Tennant-Flowers.
Other choral works include Midwinter commissioned by Queen’s College Cambridge and recorded by the Brunel Ensemble and A Song of Creation, a large-scale work commissioned by Derby Choral. Will Todd has also written a large body of smaller-scale choral works including many liturgical and anthem settings. Notable orchestral works include Winter Dances; concertos for violin, saxophone and trumpet; Concert Suite from Brunel; and Yorkshire Dance.
Recent performances include Among Angels - commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and premiered by The Sixteen in Salzburg in March 2006; Whirlwind - a major new opera for Streetwise Opera, premiered at The Sage Gateshead in October 2006; and Sweetness and Badness - an opera for WNO Max which toured in autumn 2006. Future plans include a new clarinet concerto for Emma Johnson; development work on a new stage work with Ben Dunwell at the Royal Opera House; and a requiem commissioned by The Fairhaven Singers of Cambridge.
November 2007