James Billings

James Billings (1932 – February 3, 2022) was an American operatic baritone, librettist, and opera director originally from Springfield, Missouri. Over the course of a career spanning several decades, he portrayed more than 175 opera roles on stage, established himself as a specialist in the comprimario repertoire, and contributed to the field as both a writer of opera librettos and a stage director.

Billings earned a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from Wichita State University before pursuing graduate music studies at Boston University, where he also attended the Berkshire Music Center during summer sessions. In August 1957, while still a student, he conducted the world premiere of Mark Bucci's opera Tale for a Deaf Ear at the Tanglewood Music Festival, with a cast that included Jean Kraft and Edward Purrington. His professional performing career began in 1958 when he sang under Sarah Caldwell during the inaugural season of the Opera Company of Boston, where he remained a regular presence through 1970. His roles there included Sellem in The Rake's Progress, Napoleon in the American premiere of War and Peace, and Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos. In 1962 he created the role of Polonius in the world premiere of Sergius Kagen's opera Hamlet at the Peabody Art Theater in Baltimore, conducted by Laszlo Halasz with members of the Baltimore Symphony. Two years later he made his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Benoit in La bohème, and in 1969 he appeared alongside Beverly Sills in a Boston Symphony Orchestra production of Ariadne auf Naxos.

In 1970 Billings sang in the first national tour of Camelot and returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to portray Maestro Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi. The following year he appeared on Broadway in the 1971 revival of Kurt Weill's Johnny Johnson. In the summer of 1972 he sang the title role in Don Pasquale with the New York Lyric Opera, and that autumn he joined the roster of the New York City Opera, making his debut there in October as Spalanzani in The Tales of Hoffmann opposite Sills and Norman Treigle. He continued performing with the company for roughly three decades, accumulating well over a hundred roles that included Alcindoro in La bohème, Sacristan in Tosca, Goro in Madama Butterfly, Ko-Ko in The Mikado, Frank in Die Fledermaus, Baron Puck in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Henrik Ibsen in Song of Norway, General Novikovich in The Merry Widow, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Badger in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen, Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger, and Alberich in Das Rheingold. He performed with Sills frequently throughout the 1970s at the New York City Opera and served as the majordomo for her farewell performance, Beverly! Her Farewell Performance, in 1981.

Billings also appeared as a guest artist with other ensembles. In 1980 he sang Frank in Die Fledermaus with the Philadelphia Orchestra and created the role of Agent in the world premiere of Stanley Silverman's Madame Adare. In 1982 he performed the role of the Judge in Trial by Jury with Washington National Opera and sang Salieri in the world premiere of P.D.Q. Bach's A Little Nightmare Music at Carnegie Hall. He returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1983 to perform Ko-Ko and again in 1994 for the company's first production of Candide. Among his recordings with the New York City Opera are the 1978 EMI release of Die lustige Witwe excerpts with Sills and the 1986 recording of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, which won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 1987. In 1989 he portrayed Monsieur Beaunoir in a live PBS Great Performances filming of The New Moon, later released on DVD.

Beyond performing, Billings wrote librettos for several children's operas, including three for composer Dennis Arlan — The Ballad of the Bremen Band, The Daughter of the Double Duke of Dingle, and Meanwhile, Back at Cinderella's — and one for composer Ted Kicilek, Hansel and Gretel. He received multiple awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for his work as a lyricist and librettist. He also authored the novel The Nutley Papers and the children's book The Daughter of the Double-Duke of Dingle. In 2005, Springfield Regional Opera presented the premiere of his opera Babes in the Woods. Billings began directing opera productions in September 1996 with the New York City Opera's production of H.M.S. Pinafore, in which he also portrayed Sir Joseph Porter, and continued directing with the company and other organizations thereafter. He died on February 3, 2022, at the age of 89.