Roderick Williams, 58, born in London in 1965 to a Welsh father and Jamaican mother, is one of the country’s best-loved baritones, singing all over the world, featuring on many recordings and appearing at the king’s coronation as both soloist and composer. He is married with three children and lives in Warwickshire. On 11 October he will perform Schubert’s final songs, Schwanengesang, with the pianist Natalie Burch, to open the Oxford international song festival.
When did you know you could sing?
Pretty early. When I was primary school age there was a lovely local music teacher who taught piano, recorder and singing. Singing was one of those things we did, like football or maths. Even as a tiny boy I saw it as part of life, not least because my older brother was a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral school, Oxford, where I would soon go too. But it wasn’t until much later, in my mid 20s when I’d become a teacher, that I thought about being a professional singer.
