Bill as Dr Bartolo in
”The Marriage of Figaro”

Bill Young spent a lifetime designing bridges, writing software for the analysis of complex structures, and building up a prestigious firm of Consulting Engineers. This didn’t leave him much time for music, although he did manage, without any formal training, to teach himself to play jazz on the piano “with astonishing mediocrity”.

Bill turned to serious singing shortly before retiring, and under the expert tuition of Diana Stuart, he has developed into a competent bass soloist. He has sung Dr Bartolo and Sarastro in Mozart's operas "Le Nozze di Figaro" and "Die Zauberflöte" with Opera Experience; bass solos in various classical works, such as Rossini's ''Petite Mess Solennelle", Haydn's "Creation", Handel’s “Messiah”, and various opera excerpts, including Theseus and Snug in Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream", Pistola in Verdi's "Falstaff", and Mr Koffner in Minotti's "The Consul". (His performance described by a former Glyndebourne Head of Music as “the definitive Mr Koffner”.) For concert and cabaret he has a wide repertoire of show and humorous songs.

Bill is a great admirer of the Dankworths: he has attended their ‘Wavendon Allmusic’ school, and sings their songs. John Dankworth’s music is “couth, kempt and shevelled”, and Cleo Lane’s attitude says it all: ”What drives me mad is occasionally getting a review that says: ‘Cleo Lane is too perfect.’ Little do they know! No one can give a perfect performance; there’s always something you can improve. But what’s wrong with perfection, if one could achieve it? It seems that, like so many things once thought admirable, aiming to get something Absolutely Right - as jewel-like as you possibly can - is now considered pointless or stupid. The feeling seems to be that you’re daft if you bother to do anything more than just enough to get by. It’s a mean way to go about your work, whatever it is.”

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For the last fifteen years Bill has attended ‘Summer Music’, an international singing school with tutors drawn from top teaching establishments, and has also been privileged to accompany some singers in the Cabaret. In 1995 he formed the highly successful singing duo, ‘Bel Canto’, which has given many concerts.