William Shimell

William Shimell (born 23 September 1952) is an English baritone singer. He has had an active international career performing in opera and on the concert platform since the 1980s, and has also appeared in non-singing roles in films.

Early life and education William Shimell was born in Brentwood, Essex on 23 September 1952.

He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the National Opera Studio. For his student performance at the Guildhall the Opera critic noted "William Shimells's Figaro stood out from all the others. His is a rich, full-toned baritone voice, and he used it to great musical and dramatic effect."

Career Shimell joined the chorus of Kent Opera in 1978 and sang an usher in Rigoletto with them in 1980 At the Metropolitan Opera in New York Shimell made his debut in La bohème in 1996 as Marcello, continuing with Così fan tutte (1996 and 2010 – Don Alfonso), Madama Butterfly (2000 – Sharpless), Manon (2005 – De Brétigny) and Iphigénie en Tauride (2007 – Thoas).

With major companies, Shimell has sung the title roles in Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, Papageno, Dandini, and Malatesta. Shimell had very little knowledge of cinema, but his fluency in French and Italian helped during filming (the initial script had been translated from Persian to French to English). The film, Certified Copy (Copie conforme), was released in 2010. Shimell then took a role in the film Amour (2012).

He has appeared on a few audio recordings, including the title role in Don Giovanni under Riccardo Muti, A Sea Symphony by Vaughan Williams, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley, Mass in B minor BWV232 by JS Bach, Summer's last will and testament by Lambert, Funeral cantata on the death of Emperor Joseph II, and Pulcinella.

Film Shimell's film roles have included: 2010: Certified Copy directed by Abbas Kiarostami: James Miller 2012: Amour by Michael Haneke: Geoff 2014: Aloft by Claudia Llosa: Newton