Todd was born in County Durham, attended Durham School and joined the choir of St Oswald's Church, Durham under its choirmaster David Higgins. He went on to study music at the University of Bristol. He is a pianist and regularly performs with his trio, and this played a large role in one of his best-known works, his Mass in Blue.
Mass in Blue (originally entitled Jazz Mass) was commissioned by Hertfordshire Chorus and first performed at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in July 2003 with Will Todd at the piano. Todd's wife, Bethany Halliday, performed the soprano solo alongside the Blue Planet Orchestra and Hertfordshire Chorus, conducted by David Temple.
His work The Blackened Man won second prize in the International Verdi Opera Competition in 2002 and was later staged at the 2004 Buxton Festival. The Screams of Kitty Genovese, a piece of music theatre, has been produced at the Boston Conservatory and New York Musical Theatre Festival. His oratorio Saint Cuthbert, with a libretto by Ben Dunwell based on the life of the saint, has been performed and recorded by the Hallé Orchestra and Choir under Christopher Austin.
Among Angels was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and was first performed by The Sixteen in Salzburg. Written for WNO Max, Sweetness and Badness was performed on a tour during autumn 2006. Whirlwind, commissioned by Streetwise Opera, was first performed at The Sage Gateshead.
