Born in
Ohio, McCray served in the
United States Marine Corps during the
Korean War before entering the
Mannes School of Music in New York City where he was a pupil of
Patricia Neway. In 1962, he won the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In spring 1965, he was active with the
Concert Opera Association at
Philharmonic Hall in NYC, singing Chekalinsky in
The Queen of Spades and Francesco in the United States premiere of
Hector Berlioz's
Benvenuto Cellini. The following summer he appeared at the
Stratford Festival of Canada as Jimmy Mahoney in
Kurt Weill's
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. From 1965 to 1968, McRay was active with the
Israel National Opera; performing such roles as Canio in
Pagliacci, Cavaradossi in
Tosca, Don Jose in
Carmen, Manrico in
Il trovatore, Riccardo in
Un ballo in maschera, and Samson in
Samson et Dalila. In 1969, he made his debut at the
New York City Opera as
Vladimir Igorevich in
Alexander Borodin's
Prince Igor. In 1971, he portrayed the role of Dick Johnson in
La fanciulla del West at the
Minnesota Opera. That same year he performed the role of Manrico with
Irene Dalis and
Betty Allen alternating in the role of Azucena for the
San Francisco Opera. In 1972, he created the role of Ken in the world premiere of
Harold Farberman's
The Losers which was commissioned by the
Juilliard School. From 1974 to 1976, McCray performed annually with the
Greater Miami Opera Association, portraying roles in productions of
Robert Ward's
The Crucible,
Richard Wagner's
The Flying Dutchman, and
Giuseppe Verdi's
Otello under conductor
Emerson Buckley. In 1977 he had a particular triumph at the
Seattle Opera as Siegfried in Wagner's
The Ring Cycle. After retiring from singing, McCray lived and taught in The Hague, Netherlands at the McCray International Studio for Vocal Arts. He died in January 2018. ==References==