William Long
Conductor and Music Staff at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera
2024 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording: Terence Blanchard Champion
Winner of 2023 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award
Press from London Symphony Orchestra Debut:
“Marsalis set the orchestra off on a jaunty, jerky, heavily syncopated path. Expertly balanced by conductor William Long, the dissonant crunch and percussive funk of the Latin-inflected London Symphony Orchestra acted as the perfect foil to the warm flow of the tuba.”
-The Telegraph
“Wynton Marsalis’s Tuba Concerto, which starred the LSO’s principal player, Ben Thomson, was snappily conducted by William Long.”
-The Guardian
Highlights from Terence Blanchard (Fire Shut Up in My Bones) World Premiere:
Blanchard alternates sweeping romantic strings with driving jazz and blues, fueled by a rhythm section. Conductor William Long showed masterful command of this challenging, multi-stylistic work.
-Opera News
Mr. Blanchard has said his score is not a jazz opera, but an opera in jazz. His music bears out this description, conducted here stylishly by William Long.
-New York Times (Critic’s Pick and Best of Classical Music 2019 list)