Will Upham, Tenor

RAchel Purvis

Will Upham performs Beethoven’s 9th Symphony Op 125, “Choral” with the Carmel Symphony Orchestra on October 5th, 2024 for the CSO’s Opening Night Celebration: Beethoven & Liszt.

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About Will

WILL UPHAM is quickly gaining a reputation as an exciting, visceral, and versatile lyric tenor. Upham recently performed the role of  Beadle Bamford in I.U. Opera Theater’s production of Sweeney Todd and as tenor soloist in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.

This summer, he joined Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist, where he covered the role of Herod and performed as First Jew in Salome. He also recently performed as tenor soloist at Indiana University in Howells’ Requiem, Schnittke’s Requiem, and Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien.

Last spring 2023, Upham served as Resident Artist at Indianapolis Opera, where he performed as Donald Hopewell in Moore’s Gallantry, as the VA Psychiatrist in the Midwest premiere of Wells’s Veteran Journeys, and as Monostatos and Tamino (cover) in The Magic Flute. In summer 2022,

Mr. Upham made his international debut with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and served as Rodolfo (cover) in La Boheme

About the Indianapolis Opera

The mission of Indianapolis Opera is to educate, inspire, and entertain through the creation and presentation of musical storytelling for our diverse Hoosier community.

Formed in 1975, Indianapolis Opera is the oldest and largest professional opera company in Indiana. In its nearly 50-year history, the Indianapolis Opera has presented 163 productions and large-scale concerts representing the work of 48 different composers, including more than 18 composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. IO delivers diverse artistic experiences, reaching over 30,000 audience members a year throughout all of Indiana with mainstage productions, educational programming, and outreach concerts. Each of these programs shares the thrill of live opera and the healing power of music with a multicultural blend of classic, lyric musical theater, and contemporary repertoire, each balancing style and language within the full spectrum of the human experience.

Opera is a unique art form, wherein all artistic expressions are equal and diverse simultaneously, combining the raw athletic power of the classical human voice with music composition, poetry, instruments, theater, scenic design, costuming, makeup and more. These fully dimensional presentations are affecting and meaningful, connecting artists and audiences both in times of uncertainty and periods of peace. 

The Indianapolis Opera Resident Artist Program

In 1989, Indianapolis Opera founded their Resident Artist Program, and has worked with over 170 emerging artists who have gone on to national and international careers, performing on the stages of all of the world’s largest opera houses.

As the only professional opera artist development program in Indiana, the company delivers to their Resident Artists a complete training experience, during which IO Resident Artists serve as ambassadors of the Opera by presenting operatic performances and educational experiences throughout Indiana and neighboring states.

Artists who participate in the Resident Artist Program comment on both the breadth and depth of their experiences, from multiple opportunities to perform, intensive work with guest faculty, and mentorship from Indianapolis Opera team members.