Hailing from Stafford, Virginia, bass Cory McGee opens his 2021-2022 season performing the role of Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Santa Fe Opera. This fall, he will be seen as Basilio in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera on the James. Further engagements this season include Billy in the world premiere of Thompson’s The Snowy Day, and Virgil in the world premiere of Cohen’s Turn and Burn, both with Houston Grand Opera. Mr. McGee will also be featured at The Houston Grand Opera’s Studio Showcase and Rienzi Recital Series. In Spring of 2022, he will make his debut with both Michigan Opera Theatre and The Florentine Opera, singing the role of Colline in Puccini’s La bohème.

This past season, Mr. McGee performed in The Houston Grand Opera’s Studio Showcase and Rienzi Recital Series, producing a full recording of Schubert’s Schwanengesang. He was also seen in Lawrence Brownlee’s Giving Voice concert and The Snowy Day documentary, both with Houston Grand Opera. Recent operatic roles include the Sodbuster in Mazzoli’s Proving Up, and Publio in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, both with Rice Opera Theatre. Most recently, McGee was a finalist in both the Pasadena Vocal Competition and the Houston Grand Opera’s 32nd annual Eleanor McCollum Competition. Concerts last season included Handel’s Messiah with West University Baptist Church, Houston TX, and a return as a soloist to Unity Church of Houston for their Black History Month Celebration in February 2020.

Mr. McGee joined Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist for the 2019 season, portraying the role of the Gardener in Ruder’s The Thirteenth Child. In 2018, he was seen with Wolf Trap Opera as a Studio Artist, performing the role of La Voce in Mozart’s Idomeneo, and Ranger Nat in Wolf Trap’s commissioned children’s opera, Hanlon’s Listen, Wilhelmina!. Cory was also seen as a soloist in Bernstein at 100 – A Celebration, at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center.
Previous engagements include the roles of Elder Ott in Floyd’s Susannah and Sylvano in Cavalli’s La Calisto both with Rice Opera Theatre, Figaro in Oberlin Opera Theatre’s production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Arezzo Opera Festival, and Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon with Oberlin Opera Theatre. Praised by Palm Beach Arts Paper for his “powerful, clarion voice,” McGee has performed several roles with the Miami Music Festival: Colline in Puccini’s La bohème, Simone in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Reverend John Hale in Ward’s The Crucible, Harasta in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Lindorf, Coppelius, and Crespel in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, among others.
Mr. McGee is currently a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio.