Biography

Ralph Thomas Williams is a British countertenor active in opera, concert and choral singing around the United Kingdom having finished his Masters degree with first class honours at The Royal Northern College of Music under the esteemed tutelage of Andrew Watts and Roger Hamilton and his undergraduate degree from Royal Holloway, University of London. Ralph has worked with eminent singers such as Iestyn Davies MBE, Tim Mead, Michael Chance CBE, James Bowman CBE, Sonia Prina, Emma Bell, Christopher Purves, Rodrick Williams OBE, Della Jones and Mary King MBE in both public and private masterclasses. His studies were generously supported by The James and Mary Glass Scholarship Award, The Jane Anthony Memorial Fund and The Maurice and Jean Buckley Award. 

​Recent roles include Cupid in Blow's Venus and Adonis with HGO, premiering The Host in Amir Mayar Tafreshipour's The Red Room for Tete-a-tete festival, premiering Isaac/Caspar in Luke Styles/Britten's Awakening Shadow for both The Cheltenham and Presteigne Festivals, Ruggiero (Handel's Alcina) in Italy with SOA and Refugee in Jonathan Dove's Flight with Royal Northern College of Music. Ralph has performed scenes at college: Angel 1/The Boy in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, Refugee in Flight and Fox in Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio. He also performed The Woodcutter's Boy in Vaughan Williams' The Pilgrim's Progress at the RNCM. Other engagements have included the role of Prince Orlofsky (J. Strauss Die Fledermaus) with Leeds Youth Opera and the title role for Furness Bach Choir's performance of Handel's Solomon with conductor Marco Bellasi and The Michael Haydn Orchestra.

​

Ralph is a winner of numerous competitions and prizes including The Bessie Cronshaw & Frost Brownson Song Cycle Prize 2019, The Manchester Welsh Society Prize 2019 and winning performance in The Rosamond Prize 2019 with winning composer Aaron Breeze at The Royal Northern College of Music, The Royal Holloway Concerto Competition two years running and also won Third Prize in Essex Young Musician 2018. He is currently a reserve finalist for The John Kerr English Song Award 2022. To date his concert engagements include singing as soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at The Stoller Hall, Cesare from Handel's Giulio Cesare with both The Pegasus Baroque Orchestra and also performed with Cesare with The Royal Holloway Chamber Orchestra as well as Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos with the London Mozart Players. Ralph has also performed as soloist in Cantatas by Bach with The Liverpool Bach Collective, Chelmsford Cathedral and Eboracum Baroque; Handel’s Messiah with both British Sinfonietta at St David's Cathedral and The Northern Chamber Orchestra at Blackburn Cathedral as well as Vivaldi arias with Manchester Baroque.

Ralph also has extensive experience in ensemble singing having been a choral scholar at both Blackburn and Chelmsford Cathedrals. He continues to enjoy performing with various choirs in The North, including Eboracum Baroque, Canzonetta Choir, Manchester Cathedral Choir and The Liverpool Bach Collective.