William Boggs, Artistic Director of Opera Columbus, is consistently praised by critics as “daring,” “enlightened,” “superbly musical” and “sensual.” He has led some of his company’s greatest successes including Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Die Zauberflöte, Carmen, Pirates of Penzance and Macbeth. As the former General Director of Columbus Light Opera, where he received tenure, he produced over 200 performances of the works of Strauss, Léhar, Offenbach, Gilbert and Sullivan, Friml, Romberg, and Herbert, including The Gondoliers, The Merry Widow, La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, and La Bohème.Maestro Boggs also served as Music Director of the Welsh Hills Symphony Orchestra, the third conductor in its sixty-year history.

He recently conducted the world premiere of Robert Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry with Nashville Opera, Die Fledermaus with Opera Carolina, The Student Prince with Nashville Opera, Pirates of Penzance with Indianapolis Opera, a Mario Lanza tribute concert for the Fresno Grand Opera, and the Opera Columbus’s productions of La Bohème, Turandot, La Cenerentola and Les Pêcheurs de Perles. In the 2009-2010 season, engagements include an Elmer Gantry remount at Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Die Fledermaus at the Mississippi Opera, Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher at the Nashville Opera, and Opera Columbus’ production of I Pagliacci and Romeo et Juliette

Maestro Boggs made his debut with the International Festival of Macau in performances of Chicago. Other noted engagements include Pirates of Penzance at Opera Carolina, Die Zauberflöte with Hawaii Opera Theater, Noye’s Fludde and The Mikado with Mississippi Opera, The Merry Widow and Die Fledermaus with Baltimore Opera, Cavalleria Rusticana with Cincinnati Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Dayton Opera, La Cenerentola at Lake George Opera, Aida and South Pacific with Fresno Grand Opera.

As an orchestral guest conductor, Maestro Boggs has performed symphonic works of Mozart, Bernstein and Bizet with the Columbus Symphony, the works of Bach, Mozart and Handel with the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the works of Sibelius, Respighi, and Mendelssohn with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, the works of Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Mozart with the Louisville Orchestra, the works of Frank, Stravinsky and Copland with the Orquestra Sinfonica del Estada de Mexico, and holds the title Conductor Emeritus of the Welsh Hills Symphony Orchestra.

Maestro Boggs received his Bachelor of Music, cum laude from Ohio State University where he went on to earn a Master of Music in Conducting and worked on his Doctoral Studies in Opera Production. He continued his Postgraduate Studies in Conducting with The Juilliard School in New York.