Background
Murray, William Bruce was born on March 13, 1935 in Schenectady, New York, United States. Son of John Allison and Jessie Chrystal (Gray) Murray.
Murray, William Bruce was born on March 13, 1935 in Schenectady, New York, United States. Son of John Allison and Jessie Chrystal (Gray) Murray.
Bachelor in Music Education, Adelphi University, 1956. Certified di Studio, University Perugia, Italy, 1957. Graduate, Goethe Institute, 1960.
According to the New Grove Dictionary of Opera he was "a stylish singer and a fine actor" who "excels in dramatic and character roles."
He made his debut in Wolf-Ferrari"s "Il Segreto di Susanna" in Spoleto, Italy. He went on to have a major career in Germany, where he made his debut in the role of Scarpia in Puccini"s "Tosca" at the Landestheater in Detmold. He soon moved on to the opera houses in Braunschweig and Mannheim before joining the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and, in 1971, the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
lieutenant was marked that he "convinced vocally and in the expression" He was a frequent guest in most of the leading opera houses in Europe, including the Vienna State Opera (Don Giovanni, Tannhäuser), Teatro alla Scala, Milano (Italian Premier of Luigi Dallapiccola"s "Ulisse"), the Grand Theatre in Geneva, Switzerland (Rigoletto), Oper Hamburg, Germany (Rigoletto), Oper Bonn (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Amsterdam, Netherlands (Rigoletto, Dallapiccola"s Ulisse), Teatro Bellini in Catania, Italy (Ernani), Marseille, France (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Opera Torino, Italy (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg).
He also apperared in the United States at the New York City Opera and at the Houston Grand Opera. Among his signature roles were the baritone leads in the Verdi operas "Rigoletto", "Trovatore", "Traviata", "Louisiana Forza del Destino", "Don Carlos", "Falstaff", but he was also famous for his portrayals of such different roles as Figaro (Mozart"s "Le Nozze di Figaro") and Don Giovanni, Wolfram von Eschenbach (Wagner"s "Tannhäuser"), and Scarpia ("Tosca") and Michele (Puccini"s "Il Tabarro").
He was also part of a number of world premiers, among them "Sim Tjong" by Isang Yun (Munich 1972), "Love"s Labour"s Lost" by Nicolai Nabokov (Brussels 1973), "Elisabeth Tudor" by Wolfgang Fortner Berlin 1972, and "Oedipus" by Wolfgang Rihm (Berlin 1987). He was able to work personally with many composers on their works, e.g.
Frances Burt, Isang Yun, Marcel Mihalovici, Stephen Burton, Luigi Dallopicola, Nicolas Nabakov, Hans Werner Henze and Carl Orff.
Murray was also a well known concert soloist with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerische Rundfunk (Munich), Buffalo Symphony, Syracuse Symphony and has worked with conductors as Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Giuseppe Sinopli, Heinrich Hollreiser, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, Christopher Keene, and Jesus Lopez Cobos. In 1987 he joined the voice faculty of the Universität der Künste in Berlin and became a professor of voice at Rice University, Houston in 1992. Murray lives in Sparrowbush, New New York
With United States Army, 1958-1960. Member Lions Club.
Married Nancy Lee Adams, March 1, 1958. Children: John Horton, Christopher Andrew, Judith Leora.