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The American baritone, actor, director, composer, and, educator Omari Tau [Omari Tau Williams], obtained his degrees in Music Education from Michigan State University (1991-1996) and in Music - Vocal Performance from the Moores School of Music-University of Houston in Music Education and Vocal Music Performance (1996-1999).
At home in the operatic and musical theatre worlds, as well as in jazz and pop genres, Omari Tau has proven a versatile performing artist, educator, and director. He served as the Director of Opera Theatre at Sacramento State University for six years (2012-2018) and directed the Houston Grand Opera’s Education and Outreach Department touring opera program for youth, Opera To Go! which prepared young professionals and college-level artists for the stage performing in an opera troupe dedicated to young audiences. He is Co-Founding Artistic Director and Professor of Vocal Music at Cosumnes River College (since 2013). He is also Artistic Director at Rogue Music Project in Sacramento (since 2013).
As a performing artist, Omari Tau toured with Disney’s The Lion King for nearly nine years, performing the role of Banzai with both the Cheetah and Gazelle companies, which traveled internationally. Other credits include roles at the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre, the Tony Award-Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Sacramento’s Broadway at Music Circus and musicals such as Evita with choreographer Larry Fuller at Theater Under The Stars. Tau appears on Albany Records in Roger Nelson’s operatic adaptation of A Room with a View and Disney’s A Lion King Christmas recordings.
As a composer, Omari Tau’s operas A Night At the Algonquin, Hans in Luck and The Pre-Show Opera Lecture were commissioned and premiered by Lone Star Lyric where they enjoyed successful runs. He has also composed for Houston Grand Opera’s Education and Outreach programming as well as his own initiative entitled Lions in the Library which features chamber music arrangements to accompany the readings of children’s books. His arrangements for voice and woodwinds can be heard with MôD Artists, a consortium of new and inventive musical collaborations who are the recent recipients of the Sacramento Region Community Grant Foundation’s Creative Economy grant. He currently lives in Sacramento, California. |
