William Shomos is Director of Opera and Professor of Voice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. There he has staged a wide variety of productions ranging from traditional faire (The Marriage of Figaro, La Bohème) to world premieres and new works (O Pioneers!, Dead Man Walking). His staging of Tyler White's O Pioneers! received regional and national acclaim and was aired on Nebraska Educational Television (NETV). His productions of Così fan tutte and Street Scene won first place in the National Opera Association's Opera Production Competition. Mr. Shomos makes frequent guest directing appearances throughout the country. In the spring of 2004 he staged productions of Donizetti's Elixir of Love with Pensacola Opera and Nevada Opera. He has subsequently returned to Nevada Opera to stage Puccini's Turandot, and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Così fan tutte. In 2006, he returned to Pensacola Opera to stage Le Nozze di Figaro. Between 2003 and 2005, Shomos spent three seasons with the Des Moines Metro Opera as stage director in the company's Apprentice Artist program, while also assistant directing mainstage productions. Since the summer of 2006, he has directed opera with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy, staging productions of Donizetti’s Il Campanello, Puccini's Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi, and Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Shomos has also directed outreach programs for both the Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Omaha. As a singer, he has performed numerous leading baritone roles including Marcello in La Bohème, Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore, and the title role in Sweeney Todd. In 2006, Mr. Shomos appeared as a faculty artist with UNL Opera's production of The Most Happy Fella featured at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera in Waterford, Ireland, where Shomos was awarded "Best Male Singer" for his portrayal of Tony Esposito. As a recitalist, Mr. Shomos toured throughout the country as a part of internationally renowned accompanist John Wustman's project to present the Complete Songs of Franz Schubert. In 1999 he sang a performance of the Complete Mörike Songs of Hugo Wolf, which the Omaha World Herald declared to be "a towering accomplishment that will stand as one of the region's musical high points of the year and even the decade." Recent oratorio work has included the baritone roles in Ein deutsches Requiem, Messiah, and Elijah. William Shomos, currently the chair of the UNL School of Music's Voice/Opera area, holds degrees from the University of Illinois (DMA), Northwestern University (MM), and Knox College (BA).
