ABOUT OLIVIA
Louisiana native mezzo-soprano Olivia Gray is currently based in Miami, Florida. She is pursuing her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, where she studies with Sandra Lopez-Neill. Ms. Gray is a proud recipient of the Graduate Teaching Assistantship Award. She received her Bachelor of Music from the Mannes School of Music in New York City. This past spring, she performed the role of Minskwoman in Jonathan Dove’s Flight (dir. Jeffrey Buchman) with Frost Opera Theater. She then presented her Master’s recital in March alongside pianist Jenny Snyder and clarinetist Jesse Winslow.
Last summer, Ms. Gray participated in the Miami Music Festival 2024, where she sang as Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (dir. Marc Callahan). She also attended Classic Lyric Arts Italy 2024, where she coached with Glenn Morton, Michelle Rofrano, Daniel Isengart, and Raphael Fusco. Last season with Frost Opera Theater, Ms. Gray performed as Mrs. Olsen in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. Other past roles include Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (cond. Neal Goren) at the Trentino Music Festival and Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring (cond. Steven Gatham) at MMF.
In addition, during her time at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, she sang as Maurya in Vaughn William’s Riders to the Sea, Juno in Handel’s Semele, and Edith in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. She coached the role of Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte and covered Endimione in Mannes Opera’s production of La Calisto. Over the years Ms. Gray has received honors such as National Finalist at The American Prize for Art Song, 1st Place at Rondo YA Vanguard Competition, the Bel Canto Institute Performance Award, and Classical Singer Competition Top Finalist.
Looking ahead to her 2025 season, Ms. Gray will sing as the alto soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater this April with the St. Louis Cathedral Choir and Orchestra under the baton of Micheal Borowitz. She will then create the role of Sérannes in Ember Shilts’ new opera Julie at the Frost School of Music. Finally, this summer she will perform the roles of Baker’s Wife and Jack’s Mother in Sondheim’s Into the Woods with Opera in the Ozarks.
Outside of singing, Ms. Gray enjoys reading, sketching, skiing, being on the water, and spending time with friends and family. She is also an avid traveler and loves to explore new environments and cultures.
“Olivia Gray’s burnished middle register embellished her ambivalence about living in a new country with strong textual enunciation.”
— South Florida Classical Review