Opera conductor William Boggs has been associated with the premieres of several of the most-publicized American operas of the 2010s. Recordings of these productions have earned two Grammy Awards and been nominated (as of early 2021) for three more.

Boggs, often known as Bill, was born on February 7, 1959, in Columbus, Ohio, and has lived in the area for most of his life. His father was a tool-and-die maker who played bass in both jazz and folk bands. Boggs took up the violin as a child and then switched to guitar, playing in a disco group called Razzle in high school. However, at Westland High, choir director Robert Petty suggested that he consider a career in music. Boggs attended Ohio State University, studying choral conducting with Maurice Casey. He went on for further studies at the Juilliard School in New York, and in 1982, he was hired as the chorus master by Opera Columbus. Boggs took the opportunity to turn the position into a full-fledged apprenticeship, closely observing guest conductors who passed through the company, making himself useful as an all-around assistant, and sometimes taking rehearsals and then performances as a substitute. That grew into a full-time position as a conductor with the company. He also made guest appearances with many regional American opera companies, including those in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Baltimore, and conducted in China at the Macau Festival and with the Hong Zhou Symphony.

Boggs remained with Opera Columbus until 2011, but the early 2010s proved eventful in both positive and negative senses. In quick succession, he conducted the premiere of Robert Aldridge's opera Elmer Gantry (based on the 1927 Sinclair Lewis novel) at the Nashville Opera, was laid off by Opera Columbus due to budget cuts, and then saw the 2011 recording of Elmer Gantry, with himself as the conductor, win Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Engineered Album. Boggs landed a teaching position at Capital University in Columbus and continued to conduct. In 2017, he led the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee in a production and recording of Aldridge's opera Sister Carrie, and he returned to that company the following year to lead a production of the new opera Prince of Players by composer Carlisle Floyd. Released in 2020 on the Reference Recordings label, a recording of that performance earned Grammy nominations for Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Opera Performance. ~ James Manheim, Rovi