Billings graduated with a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from
Wichita State University and then pursued graduate music studies at
Boston University. While at BU he also studied at the
Berkshire Music Center in the summers and notably conducted the world premiere of
Mark Bucci's opera
Tale for a Deaf Ear at the
Tanglewood Music Festival in August 1957 with a cast that included
Jean Kraft and
Edward Purrington. Billings began his professional career singing under
Sarah Caldwell at the
Opera Company of Boston during the company's first season in 1958, singing there regularly through 1970 in such roles as Sellem in ''
The Rake's Progress, Napoleon in the American premiere of War and Peace, and Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos''. In 1962 he sang the role of Polonius in the world premiere of
Sergius Kagen's opera
Hamlet, after the play by Shakespeare, in
Baltimore at the
Peabody Art Theater with
Laszlo Halasz conducting members of the
Baltimore Symphony. In 1964 he made his debut at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago as Benoit in
La bohème. In 1969 he shared the stage with
Beverly Sills in a production of
Ariadne auf Naxos with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra. Billings later performed with Sills frequently at the New York City Opera during the 1970s, and he notably served as the
majordomo for Sills' final performance,
Beverly! Her Farewell Performance, in 1981. In 1970 Billings sang in the company of the first national tour of
Camelot and returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to portray Maestro Spinelloccio in
Gianni Schicchi. He appeared on
Broadway in 1971 in the revival of
Kurt Weill's
Johnny Johnson after which he sang the title role in
Don Pasquale with the
New York Lyric Opera in Summer of 1972. The following autumn, he joined the roster at the New York City Opera, making his first appearance in October as Spalanzani in
The Tales of Hoffmann, opposite Sills and
Norman Treigle. He continued singing there for roughly the next three decades in well over a hundred roles, including Alcindoro in
La boheme, 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
Richard Wagner's
Die Meistersinger, and Alberich in Wagner's
Das Rheingold to name just a few. He has sung on a number of recordings with the New York City Opera, including the 1978 recording of
Die lustige Witwe (excerpts, with Sills,
EMI) and the 1986 recording of
Leonard Bernstein's
Candide which won a
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 1987. In 1989 he portrayed the role of Monsieur Beaunoir in
The New Moon which was filmed live for
PBS's
Great Performances and subsequently released on DVD. Billings also occasionally sang with other opera houses and ensembles as a guest artist. In 1980 he performed Frank in
Die Fledermaus with the
Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1982 he performed the role of the Judge in
Trial By Jury with
Washington National Opera. That same year he sang the role of Salieri in the world premiere of
P.D.Q. Bach's opera
A Little Nightmare Music at Carnegie Hall. In 1983 he returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to perform the role of Ko-Ko, and sang there again in 1994 for the company's first production of
Candide. Billings was also the author of several
librettos for children's operas. He wrote three librettos 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 libretto for composer Ted Kicilek (Hansel and Gretel
) to name just a few of his works. In 2005, Springfield Regional Opera presented the premiere of his opera Babes in the Woods''. Billings also authored several books, including
The Nutley Papers — Springfield Regional Opera Company premiered his opera based on this novel — and the children's book
The Daughter of the Double-Duke of Dingle. Billings died on February 3, 2022, at the age of 89. ==References==