Isaac Bray is quickly earning a reputation as a versatile performer in a variety of roles. He is a recent alumnus of the Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Studio where his assignments included Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles, Ben in Menotti’s comic opera The Telephone, Assan in The Consul, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, from which EDGE Magazine wrote: “As Guglielmo, baritone Isaac Bray gave an impressive and outstanding performance. Bray’s voice has a nice warm tone and is very beautiful.” This season, Mr. Bray will perform the role of Morales/Danairo in Carmen with Venture Opera, and Gregorio in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Grand Rapids.
In recent seasons, Mr. Bray appeared as an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, where his assignments included Joseph De Rocher in Dead Man Walking, Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat, Sam in Our Town, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Sam in Trouble in Tahiti.
Mr. Bray is a graduate of the prestigious Boston University Opera Institute where he studied voice with Penelope Bitzas. Roles performed with B.U. include the title role in Don Giovanni, Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas, the title role in Owen Wingrave, Barone Douphol in La traviata and Des Grieux in Le portrait de Manon. Mr. Bray made his Boston Lyric Opera debut singing the roles of the 2nd Priest and 2nd Man in Armor in a new english translation of The Magic Flute.
Mr. Bray earned a Master of Music in voice from The Boston Conservatory where he sang the title role in Don Giovanni, Ramiro in L’heure espagnole, L’horloge comtoise in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Peter in Hansel and Gretel, and Ko-Ko in The Mikado. Bray was chosen to help represent The Boston Conservatory in a new opera works sampler performance at the national Opera America Conference and in the summer of 2011, he performed the role of Rambaldo in La Rondine for the Martina Arroyo Prelude to Performance Program in New York City. Bray was also an apprentice artist at the Natchez Festival of Music in 2010. Awards include the McGlone Opera Guild Award, and the Central City Opera Young Artist overall award.