biographical info
Saskatchewan-born baritone Peter McGillivray recently completed his first season on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera taking part in productions of La Bohème and Strauss’ Capriccio. This past season saw him appearing with Calgary Opera as Silvio in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, as Betto in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, as Stubb in the Canadian premiere of Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick, and a return to the Canadian Opera Company for their own production of Gianni Schicchi This upcoming 2012-13 season sees him taking part in La Bohème for Opera Lyra Ottawa, Albert Herring and Noye's Fludde with Pacific Opera Victoria, and a starring role in an exciting new Tapestry New Opera/Edmonton Opera co-production of Juliet Palmer's Shelter.
Other recent highlights include Die Fledermaus (Falke) with Opera Hamilton, Massenet’s Manon (de Brétigny) with Calgary Opera, and Andrew Staniland’s Dark Star Requiem with Toronto’s Tapestry New Opera for the Luminato Festival. McGillivray leapt to international attention in 2005 by winning top prizes both at the Montreal International Musical Competition and at Norway's Queen Sonja Competition. He was the winner of the 2003 CBC Young Performers Competition and is a former member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio.
McGillivray's performances in past seasons with the Canadian Opera Company include roles in Britten’s Albert Herring (Sid & Mr. Gedge), La Bohème (Schaunard), Faust (Wagner), and in Prokofiev’s War and Peace (Dolokhov), as well as his professional debut in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He has been critically acclaimed as Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Tanglewood Festival, as Sid in Albert Herring for the Aldeburgh Festival, and for his commanding performance in the premiere of Omar Daniel’s The Shadow, again with Tapestry New Opera. He has appeared with opera companies in Calgary, Saskatoon, Hamilton, Québec City and Victoria as well as in concert with the Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton, Regina, Windsor and Winnipeg Symphonies, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.