About Bill Neely

Though I've lived in San Francisco since 1977, I grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, which is just outside of Boston. I attended University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where I got my Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education, with minors in Music History and Conducting. I then went to University of Colorado in Boulder,   where I got my Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance. 

I have been teaching at Santa Rosa Junior College since 2000. Prior to that, I had taught at Napa Valley College. I have taught Applied Voice, Repertoire and Diction in 4 languages: German, French, Italian and English, General Music Appreciation, Music Appreciation: The Romantic Period and Music Appreciation: 20th Century, in addition to general Music Appreciation.

In my other life, I am a classical singer in the San Francisco Bay Area, enjoying performing in many operas, musicals and choral concerts. Since 2002, I've also been a sometime extra-chorister with San Francisco Opera. Some of my favorite solo performances have been the title roles of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Sweeney Todd and The Man of La Mancha, Baron Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, Count Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Danilo in Lehar's The Merry Widow, Voltaire/Pangloss in Bernstein's Candide, and most recently, Dr. Falke in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.