Soprano Maureen McKay is praised and celebrated for her silvery soprano and dynamic character portrayals. During the 2025-2026 season, Ms. McKay joins The Metropolitan Opera as Papagena in the holiday presentation of The Magic Flute and covers Zdenka in Arabella. She also debuts the role of Callie Van Lew in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Intelligence in a return to Virginia Opera.
Maureen’s previous season featured a return to one of her signature roles, Gretel, in a house debut with Utah Opera for Hänsel und Gretel. She returned to the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, essayed Mahler's 2nd Symphony with Jeffrey Kahane and the San Antonio Philharmonic, and joined the Symphony of the Americas for a series of holiday concerts, led by Luke Frazier. Her 2023-2024 season included multiple assignments with The Metropolitan Opera, singing the Shepherd in Tannhäuser, and covering Lisette in La Rondine and Laura Brown in The Hours. Maureen also performed with The American Pops Orchestra at the Atlantic Council's Distinguished Leadership Awards honoring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
After making her much-anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel in the 17/18 season, Ms. McKay has returned in following seasons to sing Second Niece in Peter Grimes, Echo in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica and covering the leading roles of Pamina in The Magic Flute, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress. Her other recent notable engagements include her debut with Lincoln Center for their Mostly Mozart Festival as Pamina in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed production of Die Zauberflöte, her mainstage debut with Seattle Opera in her role debut as Léïla in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles and subsequent return to create the role of Laila in the world premiere of A Thousand Splendid Suns, appearances with San Diego Opera as Nannetta in Falstaff and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Opera Colorado as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Despina in Così fan tutte, Virginia Opera as Rose in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in returns to Gran Teatre del Liceu and Komische Oper Berlin, as well as The Chekhov International Theatre Festival at The Bolshoi Theatre in the production where she originated the role in 2012 with Barrie Kosky and "1927".
As a previous member of the ensemble at the Komische Oper Berlin, McKay sang leading roles in the premieres of several new productions that include Blanche in Dialogues des carmélites, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Marzelline in Fidelio. Also with the company, she sang Mozart’s Requiem in performances conducted by music director, Henrik Nánási, as well as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Norina in Don Pasquale, and Musetta in La bohème. She returned as a guest to reprise the role of Elisa in a concert performance of Il re pastore.
Among her other previous engagements are Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Philadelphia, Portland Opera, and Tulsa Opera, Nannetta in Falstaff with the Saito Kinen Festival, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Gran Teatre del Liceu, Washington National Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Portland Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Opera Colorado, Anne Trulove in The Rake's Progress with Portland Opera, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Cleveland, a return to the Opera Company of Philadelphia for Eurydice in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, Lightfoot McLendon in Cold Sassy Tree and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with The Atlanta Opera, Lilla in Una cosa rara and Elisa in Il re pastore with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with New Orleans Opera, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Caroline Gaines in Richard Danielpour's Margaret Garner with New York City Opera, Opera Saratoga in her debut as Zémire in Zémire et Azor, Musetta in La bohème with Opera Omaha, Norina in Don Pasquale with Anchorage Opera, Lisa in La sonnambula with Washington Concert Opera, and Laurey in Oklahoma! with Central City Opera. She joined Seiji Ozawa for the Sandmännchen and Taumännchen in Hänsel und Gretel in his Ongaku-juku Opera Project throughout Japan and made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte conducted by Leonard Slatkin at the Hollywood Bowl.
The soprano’s concert performances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Maestro Fabio Luisi and the Dallas Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra, Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra for performances of Händel's Messiah and the Choir and Orchestra of Teatro Carlo Felice in Génova for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, both under the baton of Fabio Luisi, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard, Mozart’s Requiem and Debussy’s La demoiselle élue with the Utah Symphony, a program of Viennese music by Lehár and Johann Strauss with the Saint Louis Symphony, Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Utah Symphony, Grieg’s Peer Gynt with the Oregon Symphony and Louis Andriessen’s The New Math(s) with the Seattle Chamber Players. With Seattle’s Music of Remembrance, she premiered Lori Laitman’s song cycle I Never Saw Another Butterfly and sang Aninku in Tony Kushner’s adaptation of Hans Krasa’s Brundibár; a recording including both Brundibár and Laitman’s song cycle is available on the Naxos label. Ms. McKay joined Judith Clurman for The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary Festival at the Mozarteum in Salzburg to perform a program of Rogers and Hammerstein classics.
Ms. McKay is a former member of Seattle Opera's Young Artists Program and was a Filene Young Artist with Wolf Trap Opera Company, where she sang Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Ismene in Telemann’s Orpheus, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. She earned her Bachelor of Music at Columbus State University in Georgia (summa cum laude) and her Master of Music at The Ohio State University.
