Basso cantanteย (Lyric Bass) Arthur Woodley was born in New York City,ย New Yorkย in 1949 and raised in St. Croix,ย US Virgin Islandsย where his family farmed sugar cane and raised animals. Most of his family and childhood friends still live there. In 2016 Woodley gave two fundraising concerts in Charlotte Amalie, the capital city, to benefit a museum that promotes the history, culture, and language of the Virgin Islands. He was the first in his family to finish high school and college.
Woodley was aย biologyย major at NY City Community College and sang in the choir. He was chosen to play the part of Johnny in Kurt Weilโs folkย operaย Down in the Valley.ย Based on that performance, his choral professor suggested Woodley apply for a scholarship to the Giovanni Battista Martini Conservatory in Bologna,ย Italy. He did, and in 1970 was awarded a one-year scholarship that was extended for two more. While there he sang in an Italian rock band. After leaving Italy, he returned to New York City in 1974 to finish his studies at Mannes College of Music. After graduation Woodley performed for the Dance Theater of Harlem and served as the schoolโs registrar.
Woodleyโs professional career began in October 1979 with his debut at the New York City Opera with his role in Mendelssohnโs oratorio โElijahโ at Carnegie Hall.ย Woodley has appeared in 12 productions for theย Seattleย Opera inย Washington Stateย beginning in the 1997/ 1998 season.ย The operas includedย The Marriage of Figaro,ย Boris Godunov,ย Les contes dโHoffmann,ย Il trovatore,ย Lucia di Lammermoor, andย La bohรจme. His last opera for Seattle Opera in 2013 wasย Cenerentolaย (Cinderella).
Woodley has a distinguished history as Porgy inย Porgy and Bess, having sung the role in concert with the San Francisco Symphony inย California, the National Symphony Orchestra inย Washington, D.C., the Baltimore Symphony inย Maryland, and on tour in Italy. In staged performances he has appeared with the Opera Company of Philadelphia inย Pennsylvania, the Indianapolis Opera inย Indiana, Operaย Colorado, the Bregenz Festival inย Austria, the Savolinna International Festival inย Finland, and the Catfish Row Opera Company of Charleston,ย South Carolina.
He sang the 1998 world premiere ofย God, Mississippi and Medgar Eversย with theย New Jerseyย Symphony Orchestra and was the bass soloist in Beethovenโsย Symphony No. 9ย in Mexico City,ย Mexicoย with Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
Woodley also performed as Old Emile Griffith in Terence Blanchardโs Jazz operaย Champion, based on the life of a world champion welterweight prize fighter that opened in St. Louis,ย Missouriย in June 2013. He performed this role in San Francisco in 2016, the Washington National Opera at the JFK Center for Performing Arts in 2017, and in 2018 in Montreal,ย Canada.
In 2016 theย Minnesotaย Opera producedย The Shining, an adaptation of the 1977 Stephen King novel.ย Woodley brought Dick Hallorann to life with his deep bass voice.
In addition to his performances around the world, Arthur Woodley was a professorย of vocal performance at New York Universityโs Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts.
Author Woodley died of cancer on November 20th, 2020, in Montclair, New Jersey. He was 71 years old and enjoyed jazz radio, 1970s and 1980s oldies, and Italian pop music.
