William Shomos is Director of Opera and Professor of Voice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. There he has staged a wide variety of productions ranging from traditional faire (The Marriage of Figaro, La Bohème) to world premieres and new works (O Pioneers! (White), Dead Man Walking (Heggie), A Wedding (Bolcom)). His staging of Tyler White's O Pioneers! received regional and national acclaim and was aired on Nebraska Educational Television (NETV). His productions of Dead Man Walking, Così fan tutte and Street Scene won first place in the National Opera Association's Opera Production Competition. Mr. Shomos has staged several works with Pensacola Opera and Nevada Opera. Between 2003 and 2005, Shomos spent three seasons with the Des Moines Metro Opera as stage director in the company's Apprentice Artist program, while also assistant directing mainstage productions. Between 2006 and 2009, he directed productions with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy. Shomos has also directed outreach programs for both the Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Omaha. From 2011-2103, Mr. Shomos returned to the Des Moines Metro Opera to direct in the Apprentice Artist Program.  In 2013 he served as Assistant Director for a production of Wagner's Tannhäuser in Tirana, Albania, a production in which he also sang the role of Wolfram.

As a singer, he has performed numerous leading baritone roles including Marcello in La Bohème, Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore, and the title role in Sweeney Todd. In 2006, Mr. Shomos appeared as a faculty artist with UNL Opera's production ofThe Most Happy Fella featured at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera in Waterford, Ireland, where Shomos was awarded "Best Male Singer" for his portrayal of Tony Esposito. As a recitalist, Mr. Shomos toured throughout the country as a part of internationally renowned accompanist John Wustman's project to present the Complete Songs of Franz Schubert. In 2010, he performed Winterreise with Wustman at UNL. In 1999 he sang a performance of the Complete Mörike Songs of Hugo Wolf, which the Omaha World Herald declared to be "a towering accomplishment that will stand as one of the region's musical high points of the year and even the decade." Recent oratorio work has included the baritone roles in Ein deutsches Requiem,Messiah, and Elijah. William Shomos holds degrees from the University of Illinois (DMA), Northwestern University (MM), and Knox College (BA).