B i o g r a p h y
Hailed for his "very rich, full tenor" (Broadway World), Jonathan Ray is an increasingly in-demand artist throughout the Midwest. Professional credits include the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Heartland Opera Theatre, the Missouri Symphony, Opera in the Rock, and St. Petersburg Opera. He has also appeared professionally as a soloist with Te Deum, the American Festival Chorus, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and with Hesston College, Clark University, and Louisiana State University.
Dr. Ray holds the DMA in Vocal Performance with a minor in Choral Conducting from LSU where he studied with tenor Robert Grayson and coached with Metropolitan Opera tenor Paul Groves. He received the MM in Vocal Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he studied with Carla LeFevre and the BME from Arkansas Tech University where he studied with Jon Clements and Arlene Biebesheimer. In 2019, he completed a two-year apprenticeship as the tenor Apprentice Artist for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Known for his "stamina and unrelenting concentration, as well as his lovely singing" (Arktimes), Dr. Ray's operatic highlights include the principal tenor roles in Roméo et Juliette, Die Fledermaus, La finta giardiniera, La Traviata, Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’Italiana in Algeri, La Cenerentola, Béatrice et Bénédict, Don Giovanni, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze di Figaro, L’elisir d’amore, and Albert Herring. Operetta highlights include principal roles in The Gondoliers, The Pirates of Penzance, Trial by Jury, and Candide. Some of his musical theater credits include leading and supporting roles in She Loves Me, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Assassins, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, South Pacific, and A Little Night Music. Dr. Ray's recent concert work includes the tenor solos in the Mozart Requiem, Carmina Burana, Stravinsky's Cantata, Bach's BWV 148, and Philip Glass's Songs from Liquid Days.
Students of Dr. Ray have frequently placed in various categories of NATS in the Kansas City, Mid-Missouri, and West Central chapters, and many have gone on to pursue various programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels across the country.
After years of serving at the adjunct level at various colleges and universities throughout Kansas and Missouri, Dr. Ray recently accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Music at Central Methodist University where he teaches Applied Voice and Opera Workshop and conducts the musical theater productions.
Dr. Ray is Founding Artistic Director for Landlocked Opera Inc., Kansas City's newest opera company. He co-founded LOI in 2018 with his wife, Founding General Director and Board President, Christina Casey. In 2020, he directed their production of The Magic Flute. Other full-length Landlocked productions include Tartuffe, The Old Maid and the Thief, Beatrice and Benedict, and Trial by Jury.
When he is not performing or teaching, Dr. Ray enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife Christina, their wonderful daughter Lucy, and their cats Churro and Gravy.
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