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- Tenor William Lewis died on Aug. 21, 2026, at age 94; no cause of death was released.
- Lewis sang 234 performances at the Metropolitan Opera between his 1958 debut in Strauss' "Salome" and his retirement from the company 35 years later.
- He won the Metropolitan Opera's Audition of the Air competition in 1955 and was knighted by France as Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011.
Tenor William "Bill" Lewis, who sang 234 performances at the Metropolitan Opera over 35 years, has died at 94. He died on Aug. 21, 2026; no cause of death has been released.
Lewis was born on Nov. 23, 1931. He studied at the University of Colorado, Texas Christian University, New York University, and the Music Academy of the West. Opera was not his first ambition. He initially pursued careers in writing and baseball before turning to the stage.
The turn came quickly. In 1953, Lewis made his professional opera debut with Fort Worth Opera as Rinuccio in Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi." Two years later, in 1955, he won the Metropolitan Opera's Audition of the Air competition — the predecessor to the company's National Council Auditions. In 1958, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Narraboth in Strauss' "Salome." He remained on the company's roster for the next three and a half decades.
His career extended well beyond the United States. Lewis was a regular performer of opera and 20th-century music in Canada and Europe.
Lewis built an equally long career as a teacher. He served on the faculties of Penn State University, the State University of New York at Binghamton, and the University of Texas at Austin. He directed the Studio Ensemble of the Butler Opera Center and served as president of the William Lewis School of Opera — formerly the Franco American Vocal Academy — with operations in Austria and France.
His performances survive in numerous recordings and videos. Most notably, he appears in the Metropolitan Opera's 1984 production of Zandonai's "Francesca da Rimini" alongside Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil. His recorded legacy, both live and in-studio, includes works by Samuel Barber, Hector Berlioz, Leoš Janáček, Richard Strauss, and Virgil Thomson.
France recognized his contributions in 2011, when the Republic knighted him as Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Lewis's recorded output — from Barber to Thomson — and his decades of teaching at institutions across the U.S. and in Europe ensure that his voice and his students will carry his legacy forward.
Source: Opera Wire
