Bass

One of America's leading young basses, Mark McCrory has attracted considerable attention for an imposing voice and galvanizing stage presence, appearing to critical and popular acclaim in the title role of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro for the Minnesota Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, and the Opera Festival of New Jersey, the title role in Don Giovanni with the Madison Opera and with Opera Pacific, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Claudius in Thomas' Hamlet with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Monterone in Rigoletto and Zuniga in Carmen for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Nettuno/ Tempo in Il Ritorno D'Ulisse in Patria for Glimmerglass Opera, and Angelotti in Tosca for the Florida Grand Opera.

On the concert stage, Mr. McCrory has appeared as Don Fernando in Fidelio with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Daniel Barenboim, bass soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the Quad Cities Symphony, Handel's Messiah with the Richmond Symphony, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Chicago Youth Symphony, and in performances with New York's Mostly Mozart Festival in Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri . He also appeared in a duo recital with Dolora Zajick at the Morgan Library in New York as a part of the George London Foundation Recital Series.

In the 2002-2003 season, he appeared with Portland Opera as Ferrando in Il Trovatore and as Marco in William Bolcom's A View From the Bridge , a role he created at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1999. He debuted with the Florentine Opera as Zuniga in Carmen and with Opera Longview in the title role of Le Nozze di Figaro . He also returned to the Richmond Symphony and made his debut with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra as bass soloist in Handel's Messiah . The 2003-2004 season included debuts with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Friar Lawrence in Romeo et Juliette and the Baltimore Opera as Zuniga and a return to the Portland Opera as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor . This season, he debuts with the Wichita Grand Opera in the title role of Don Giovanni and returns to Hawaii Opera Theatre as Olin Blitch in Susannah and returns to Opera Longview as the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance .

Upcoming engagements include debuts with the New Orleans Opera as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro and with The Dallas Opera as Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos and Second Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte .

A recent alumnus of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mark McCrory has appeared in several productions with that company, including Ariadne auf Naxos , Romeo et Juliette , Die Meistersinger , Madama Butterfly , La Boheme , Turandot , Salome , The Makropulos Case , and Andrea Chenier among others.

Mark McCrory is a winner of numerous competitions and awards, including first place in the 2002 Opera Index Competition, a George London Foundation Award (1999) and a Sara Tucker Study Grant (1998). Previously, he was a 1997 Sullivan Foundation Award Winner and a 1994 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He also won first place in the MacAllister Awards Competition in both the professional division (1997) and the College Division (1994). He is an alumnus of the Central City Opera Studio Artist Program and the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Program.

Born and raised in Dallas , Texas , Mark McCrory is a graduate of the University of North Texas where he was a student of Dr. Edward Baird. While in the Lyric Opera Center , he studied voice with Margaret Harshaw. He and his wife Sylvia currently reside in Dallas with their sons Colin and Ryan.