Early career She began her career as a
mezzo-soprano in 1984 in the young artist program at the
Santa Fe Opera; making her debut with the company that year in the small role of Victim 17 in Hans Werner Henze's
We Come to the River. In January 1985 she made her debut at the
Fort Worth Opera (FWO) as the Madrigal Singer in Puccini's
Manon Lescaut, and the following March performed the title role in Handel's
Agrippina with the FWO. In 1985, Wray won multiple singing competitions, including the
San Francisco Opera Center competition, the Southwest Region division of the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (MONCA), The latter competition earned her a contract with the
Dallas Opera (DO), and she gave her first performance with the DO in 1986 in the dual roles of La Musica and La Speranza in Monteverdi's ''
L'Orfeo''. She was also a finalist in the national part of the MONCA competition in 1985. In 1986 she was awarded the Jean Donnell Memorial Award by the
San Francisco Opera, and in 1987 she won second prize in the MacAllister Awards for Opera Singers. In 1985–1986, Wray was a member of the young artist program of the
Houston Grand Opera (HGO), giving her first performance with the company in a concert dedicated to the music of
Meredith Monk in September 1985. Works she performed with the HGO while in their program included the role of Martha in Gounod's
Faust (1985), and as the soloist in de Falla's
El amor brujo (1986). In 1987 she performed the role of Hippolyta in Britten's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at both the
Wolf Trap Opera and the
Glimmerglass Opera. In 1989, she was awarded the
Richard Tucker Award, In 1991, she was a finalist in the
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Wray was billed as a mezzo-soprano as late as 1988,
Metropolitan Opera In the fall of 1986, Wray became a member of the
Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the
Metropolitan Opera ("Met"). She appeared at the house in more than 90 performances, first in supporting roles such as Sandmännchen in Humperdinck's
Hänsel und Gretel, the Priestess in
Aida, a Cretan woman in
Idomeneo, the Voice of Antonia's Mother in Offenbach's ''
Les contes d'Hoffmann'', Berta in Rossini's
Il barbiere di Siviglia, Giovanna in Verdi's
Rigoletto and Helmwige in Wagner's
Die Walküre. She appeared in the 2004
Ring cycle, conducted by
Valery Gergiev, as both Sieglinde in
Die Walküre, alongside
Plácido Domingo, and as Gutrune in
Götterdämmerung.
European performances Wray made her European debut in 1989 at
La Monnaie in Brussels as Florinda in Schubert's
Fierrabras. She performed in several more operas at that house, including Freia in
Das Rheingold and Gutrune in
Götterdämmerung. In 1992, she portrayed Countess Almaviva in
Le nozze di Figaro with
Opéra Bastille. In 1995, she performed the role of Eva in
Graham Vick's production of
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the
Teatro Regio in Turin, and appeared as Desdemona in Verdi's
Otello at the
Opéra de Nice. She made her début at
La Scala in Milan in 2000, as Mme Lidoine in Poulenc's
Dialogues des Carmélites, conducted by
Riccardo Muti. Wray first performed at the
Berlin State Opera as Chrysothemis in
Elektra by Richard Strauss. She portrayed Sieglinde first at the
Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse. Wray appeared in lead roles also with major opera companies in Europe, including the
Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the
Oper Frankfurt, and the
Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, among others. In 1999, she performed the role of Leonore in Beethoven's
Fidelio at the
Utah Festival Opera. She belonged to the team of the
Seattle Opera's
Ring cycle from 2000 to 2013, as both Sieglinde in
Die Walküre and Third Norn in
Götterdämmerung. Reviewing her performance as Sieglinde in 2000,
The San Francisco Examiner critic stated, "Her performance, in a word, was thrilling. With a brilliant soprano totally at her command, Wray conveyed both the torment of her character as well as her exaltation. The voice has steel in it, but the kind of metal that glistens and glowers." She also portrayed Sieglinde with the
Austin Lyric Opera in 2001. In 2002, Wray gave her first performance with the
Cincinnati Opera as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie's
Dead Man Walking, a role she later repeated at the
Detroit Opera. In 2003, she performed the roles of Senta in
Der fliegende Holländer and Chrysothemis in
Richard Strauss's
Elektra at the
Pittsburgh Opera. In 2004, she performed the title role in Strauss's
Ariadne auf Naxos with the
Opéra de Montréal. In 2010, she appeared as Brangäne in Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde at the Seattle Opera. In 2013, she appeared as Isolde in Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde at the
Canadian Opera Company, and portrayed Adriano in
Rienzi with the
Odyssey Opera in Boston. She retired from the stage the same year.
Concert singer Wray also had a prolific career as a concert artist with many notable conductors including
Seiji Ozawa. In 1988, she was alto soloist in Beethoven's
Symphony No. 9 with the
Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra which was given in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Carmel United Methodist Church. She later was the soprano soloist in that same symphony with the
Virginia Symphony Orchestra (1990) the
Orchestre Métropolitain (1992), the
Cleveland Orchestra (1993, conducted by
Leonard Slatkin), the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1994, conducted by
Christoph Eschenbach), the
Montreal Symphony Orchestra (1998, with conductor
Charles Dutoit), the
Boston Symphony Orchestra (1998, conducted by
Mstislav Rostropovich), and the
Minnesota Orchestra (2003, conducted by
Giancarlo Guerrero). She returned to performing as the alto soloist in the Symphony No. 9 with the
Alabama Symphony Orchestra in 2009. In February 1990, she performed arias by Wagner and Verdi with the New World Symphony at the
New World Center in a benefit concert for charities supporting those with HIV and AIDS. That same month she performed in a concert version of
George Gershwin's musical
Girl Crazy given at
Alice Tully Hall. In the summer of 1990, she performed the part of
Merab in Handel's oratorio
Saul at the
Oregon Bach Festival (OBF), and was also heard at the OBF as a soloist in Bach's
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68. In 1991, Wray was a soloist in Mahler's
Symphony No. 8 with both the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She subsequently performed in this symphony with the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1994, conducted by
James Conlon) the Cleveland Orchestra (1995, conducted by
Robert Shaw), the
Hallé Orchestra (1996, conducted by
Kent Nagano), and the
Delaware Symphony Orchestra (1998). In 1992, she was a soloist in Mozart's
Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by
Daniel Barenboim, and in 1993 she performed as the soprano soloist in Britten's
War Requiem with the
Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France which was recorded live for national radio broadcast. In April 1993, she was a soloist in Rossini's
Stabat Mater with the Cleveland Orchestra; a work she sang again with
Music of the Baroque, Chicago in 1994. In July 1993, she was the soprano soloist in Verdi's
Requiem with the
Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. She repeated this work with the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1994) the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales (1996, conducted by
Andrew Litton), and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2001, conducted by Barenboim). She performed as the alto soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the
Alabama Symphony Orchestra in 2007. In 1994, Wray appeared as Gutrune in act III of
Götterdämmerung in concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by
Bernard Haitink. In 1996, she performed excerpts from Wagner's
Tannhäuser and
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for the opening of the 123rd
Cincinnati May Festival. In August 1996, she was a soloist in Mahler's
Symphony No. 2 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra led by
Yoel Levi which was presented as part of the Olympics Arts Festival of the
1996 Summer Olympics. She repeated that work with the
Phoenix Symphony in 1997 and the
Columbus Symphony Orchestra in 2002. In May 1997, Wray sang the
Liebestod from
Tristan und Isolde with the
New York Philharmonic and conductor
Kurt Masur, and performed excerpts from that opera at the
Aspen Music Festival the same year. She later sang excerpts of role of Isolde in concerts with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1998, with
Gary Lakes as Tristan), the orchestra of the
Royal Opera House (1999, with conductor
Mark Elder at the
Cheltenham Festival), and the
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (2001, with conductor
Christopher Seaman). In September 1999, she performed the part of Tove in Schoenberg's
Gurre-Lieder with
Mariss Jansons leading the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In January 2000, she returned to Ohio to perform the role of Elsa with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a concert version of
Lohengrin with
Robert Dean Smith in the title role. Later that year she performed in a concert of music by Wagner, Beethoven, and Liszt with the
National Symphony Orchestra led by Conlon. She returned to Cincinnati in 2001 to sing Kundry in a complete concert version of Wagner's
Parsifal conducted by
Jesús López Cobos. In 2005, Wray performed at
Avery Fisher Hall with the
Orchestra of St. Luke's with fellow soloists
Deborah Voigt and
Ben Heppner. == Personal life ==