A recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, contralto Megan Esther Grey is quickly gaining attention in roles large and small across the United States. In the 2023-2024 Season Ms. Grey will make several major debuts. In November of 2023 she will appear as vocal soloist in Arnold Schoenberg’s prolific Pierrot Lunaire with the NOVA ensemble under the direction of Alexander Ravitz. November also sees a role debut as Madame de la Haltière in Massenet’s Cendrillon with UNT opera. In March of 2024 Ms. Grey returns to The Metropolitan opera to cover the role of Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette and wraps up the season as the Alto Soloist in Mahler’s 2nd Symphony “Resurrection” with The Phoenix Symphony.
During the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Grey appeared with Opera San Jose as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff and Emeline in Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella. She also appeared as the soloist in Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and covered Dritte Dame in both the holiday adaptation and Simon McBurney’s new production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with The Metropolitan Opera.
In 2021-2022, she returned to The Metropolitan Opera to cover both Suzuki and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, performed the title role in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with UNT Opera, sang Emilia in a concert production of Verdi’s Otello with the UNT Symphony Orchestra, and made her Washington Concert Opera debut as Mistress Bentson in Lakmé. In the summer of 2022, Ms. Grey joins the Santa Fe Opera, covering the role of Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde.
The 2019-2020 season marked large milestones for Megan, including her Metropolitan Opera debut as Kate Pinkerton in the Anthony Minghella production of Madama Butterfly and appearances as 2nd Lady in Julie Taymor’s Magic Flute. In February she made her recital debut in the prestigious Park Armory Recital Series singing Mahler’s Rückert Lieder and selections from Dominick Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. While her appearance as Carolina in Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers was canceled due to COVID19, Ms. Grey was able to return to Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist during the summer of 2020 where she appeared in the “Into the Woods” project as Fricka in Die Walküre and as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel.
Throughout the disrupted 2020-2021 season Ms. Grey performed in multiple recitals in collaboration with Matthew Gemmill. In April of 2021 she was joined by pianist Mark Bilyeu and trombonist Derek Bromme for performances of Libby Larsen’s Mary Cassatt and Dominick Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. This multimedia recital featured paintings by Mary Cassatt as well as mixed media prints by Mer Brich and an animated script by Alexandra Saulsbury, compiled by Ms. Grey as projections throughout the recital. In the summer of 2021, Ms. Grey returned to Wolf Trap Opera as Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert. For her performance she was credited with delivering “laughs as well as vocals” by MD Theatre Guide (Kristin Franco).
Megan’s summer of 2019 saw rave reviews for her debuts at Wolf Trap Opera as The Drummer in Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Hippocratine in Gluck’s L’Île de Merlin. Having sung “impressively and with notable flexibility” (Anne Midgette, Washington Post), she was also praised while she “demonstrated remarkable calm while projecting power as the island’s doctor… and she showed some good moves coming down the slide” (Opera Gene). Of her appearance as Der Trommler, Opera News remarked, “…Grey sounded like a Wagnerian-in-waiting, her tone steely and secure.”
Megan has also made a mark on the West Coast as a participant in the prestigious Merola Opera Program in summer of 2018. Her voice described as “potent and precise” (SFChronicle), she was also lauded for her performances in the Schwabacher Summer Series, especially as her portrayal of Erika from Samuel Barber’s Vanessa.
“The rich-toned mezzo-soprano Megan (Esther) Grey had already shown her merits in the opening scene of Barber’s ‘Vanessa,’ shaping the aria ‘Must the winter come so soon’ with a tender expressivity that would have been harder to come by in isolation” (SFGate.)
“Then, against all the preceding histrionics, Grey created a hush in the hall with a sensitive, affecting performance of the aria ‘Must the winter come so soon?’” (San Francisco Chronicle.)
Distinguished in competition, Megan was a Grand Finalist in The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions of 2018, a winner of Opera Index’s Walter’s Award in 2018, 2nd place winner in The Classical Singer competition, 2016 Presser Scholarship recipient, and 2015 winner of the St. Paul Schubert Club’s annual scholarship Competition.
Originally from Cedar Falls, Iowa, Megan completed both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees at the University of Northern Iowa. She began her vocal studies at the age of 16 under the mentorship of Dr. Jean McDonald, who she studied with for both of her degrees at UNI. Originally a cellist, Megan spent most of her undergraduate degree performing in symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles as well as the university’s vocal ensembles. An avid educator, Megan was a graduate teaching assistant in voice during her final year of her MM and is also a registered Suzuki cello instructor for Pretwinkle and cello book one students.