Margaret Jane Wray

Last updated

Margaret Jane Wray is an American dramatic soprano known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner.

Wray began her career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Young Artist program in the mid to late 1980s. She made her debut with the company in 1987 as Annina in Verdi's La Traviata . [1] Wray was quickly identified as one of the most talented young artists in the field and success soon followed. In 1989, Wray was awarded the Richard Tucker Award. Wray went on to appear in lead roles with many of the world's leading opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Seattle Opera, La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, L’Opéra de la Bastille, Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Regio (Turin), Théâtre du Capitole, Teatro Massimo Bellini, Opéra de Nice, and Welsh National Opera among others. [2] Wray has also had a prolific career as a concert artist appearing with many of the world's finest conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Kwun Chung and James Conlon. [3] She has also performed with many of the world's great orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and National Symphony Orchestra among others.

Roles

Related Research Articles

Angela Brown American opera singer

Angela M. Brown is an American dramatic soprano particularly admired for her portrayal of Verdi heroines.

Licia Albanese Italian-born American operatic soprano

Licia Albanese was an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1966. She also made many recordings and was chairwoman of The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, which is dedicated to assisting young artists and singers.

Andrea Gruber is an American dramatic soprano particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Puccini, Verdi, and Wagner.

Florence Quivar is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who is considered to be "one of the most prominent singers of her generation." She has variously been described as having a "rich, earthy sound and communicative presence" as "always reliable" and as "a distinguished singer, with a warm, rich voice and a dignified performing presence." From 1977-1997 she was a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera where she gave more than 100 performances.

Benita Valente, is a distinguished American soprano whose long career has encompassed the operatic stage as well as performance of lieder, chamber music and oratorio. She is especially lauded for her interpretations of Mozart and Handel, but she also excelled in certain Verdi roles. The New York Times once referred to her as "as gifted a singer as we have today, worldwide."

Patricia Racette American operatic soprano (born 1965)

Patricia Lynn Racette is an American operatic soprano. A winner of the Richard Tucker Award in 1998, she has been a regular presence at major opera houses internationally. Racette has enjoyed long-term partnerships with the San Francisco Opera, where she has been a regular performer since 1989, and with the Metropolitan Opera, where she has performed since 1995. Also active on the concert stage, Racette has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She also received the award for Best Opera Recording for her performance in the Los Angeles Opera's production of The Ghosts of Versailles at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

Mary Dunleavy is an American soprano who has performed with major opera companies and orchestras around the world.

Sondra Radvanovsky American-Canadian soprano (born 1969)

Sondra Dee Radvanovsky is an American-Canadian soprano. Specializing in 19th-century Italian opera, Radvanovsky has been called one of the leading Verdi sopranos of her generation. Her signature roles include Elvira in Ernani, Leonora in Il trovatore, Elena in I vespri siciliani, Élisabeth in Don Carlos, and the title role in Norma.

Katherine Ciesinski is an American mezzo-soprano, stage director, and voice professor.

Susan Dunn is a Grammy Award-winning American spinto soprano who has performed in many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, and concert performances. Dunn is particularly admired for her portrayals of Verdi heroines. She currently lives in Durham, North Carolina where she works as a professor of vocal music at Duke University.

Joyce DiDonato American mezzo-soprano

Joyce DiDonato is an American lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano. She is notable for her interpretations of operas and concert works in the 19th-century romantic era in addition to works by Handel and Mozart.

Alessandro Siciliani

Alessandro Siciliani is an Italian conductor of opera and symphonic music. He is also a composer of symphonic music. Siciliani was born in Florence, Italy, the son of Ambra and Francesco Siciliani, the celebrated opera impresario. Siciliani currently resides in Columbus, Ohio, where he was the music director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra from 1992 to 2004.

Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz

Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz is a Norwegian-Italian operatic soprano.

Betty Allen American singer (1927-2009)

Betty Allen was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international singing career during the 1950s through the 1970s. In the latter part of her career her voice acquired a contralto-like darkening, which can be heard on her recording of Sergei Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. She was known for her collaborations with American composers, such as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, David Diamond, Ned Rorem, and Virgil Thomson among others.

Michelle DeYoung American opera singer

Michelle DeYoung is an American classical vocalist who has an active international career performing in operas and concerts.

Michael Fabiano American operatic tenor

Michael Fabiano is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Canadian Opera Company, The Royal Opera, and Teatro Real de Madrid among many others. Fabiano is the 2014 Richard Tucker Award winner and the 2014 Beverly Sills Artist Award winner, making him the first singer to win both awards in the same year.

Gwynne Geyer is an American operatic soprano. A graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, she has sung leading roles at major opera houses all over the Western world, including La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Vienna State Opera. She played the role of Nedda in Pagliacci for the New York City Opera in 1992.

Ying Fang is a Chinese operatic soprano. A principal soprano at the Metropolitan Opera, she won the Golden Bell Award at the Guangdong Singing Competition in China in 2009, first prize at the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition in 2013, and the Lincoln Center Segal Award in 2015. Her performances have been featured on the television program Great Performances at the Met and in movie theaters for the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD. In 2015 Opera News stated that "Ying Fang sings with exquisite simplicity and directness. The twenty-eight-year-old soprano never forces her sound or indulges in coloratura 'flash.' She is incapable of vulgarity; her dignity is unshakeable, and her powers of persuasion are sovereign."

Tamara Wilson is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international opera career since 2007. She has performed leading roles at the Canadian Opera Company, the English National Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Liceu, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Sydney Opera House among others. She is particularly known for her performances of heroines in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. In 2016 she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera and was awarded the Richard Tucker Award, an award described by Opera News as "one of the most prestigious prizes in opera".

Nikki Li Hartliep is a Japanese-born American soprano who has performed with major opera companies and orchestras around the world.

References

  1. Bio of Margaret Jane Wray - The Metropolitan Opera
  2. Margaret Jane Wray Bio
  3. Margaret Jane Wray Biography. Listen to Classical Music by Margaret Jane Wray