Ray M. Wade Jr.

Tenor Ray M. Wade, Jr. was a member of the Solo Ensemble of the Nationaltheater Mannheim, Germany from the 1995 through the 98 seasons where he sang several roles including; Alfredo Germont in La Traviata, Conte Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serial, The Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Chevalier Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims and Camille de Rossillon in The Merry Widow. He is a native of Ft. Worth, Texas where he began his career with the Ft. Worth Opera Theater in 1983.

Mr. Wade had the privilege of singing on a concert for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the coronation of Pope John Paul II in November of 1998 in Vatican City, Italy in which the Pope attended. Mr. Wade then made his debut with the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he sang the tenor role in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in December of the same year under the direction of Christian Thielemann. Mr. Wade also sang in the Bregenz Festival’s production of A Greek Passion by Martinu in the summer of 1999.

Mr. Wade was a Laureate (winner) in the 1996 Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition for Singing in Brussels, Belgium, the first place winner of the 1994 Stewart Awards National Operatic Voice Competition in Oklahoma City, a national winner of the1993 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for Young Singers and also a winner of the 7th Enrico Caruso International Singing Competition in Milan, Italy in October of 1992. He was only the second American ever to win this prestigious competition. He made his European Debut in 1993 with the role of Don Ottavio in  Don Giovanni in Gent. He again sang the role in San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program in the summer of 1994 under the baton of Patrick Summers and in Western Opera Theater's 1994 tour.

Mr. Wade has performed with several world class orchestras including The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The San Francisco Opera Orchestra, The Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchestra, The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, The Monnaie Symphony Orchestra in Brussels, Belgium, The Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Mons, Belgium, De Vlaams Opera Orchestra, Belgium, The Nationaltheater Mannheim Symphony Orchestra in Mannheim, Das Rundfunk Orchester des Südwestfunk in Kaiserslauten, Germany, The Orchestra del Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in St. Paul, Minnesota. U.S.A. under the direction of Bobby McFerrin, The Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and in October of 1999 Mr. Wade sang the role of Belmonte in a concert version of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Munich’s famed Prinzregententheater in which Dietrich Fischer-Diskau played the role of Bassa Selim with The Münchener Kammerorchester. Mr. Wade sang the title role in Faust with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders in Antwerp, in June of 2000. He sang the tenor role in Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Leipzig, Germany with The MDR Orchestra in the famed Gewandhaus under the direction of Marcello Viotti in March of 2001. He sang the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute and Nadir in Les Pecheurs de Perles in Basel, in 2001 / 2002.

Mr. Wade can be heard on several recordings including Lucia di Lammermoor and Norma with Edita Gruberova under the direction of Friedrich Haider. He can also be heard in Cartellieri’s  Christmas Oratorio and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Das Neue Orchester under the direction of Christoph Spering.

Mr. Wade was a member of the ensemble in the Opera Cologne from 2004 to 2009 where he received critical acclaim in the roles of Samson in Samson et Dalila, Dionysus in Henze’s The Bassarids, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Laca in Jenufa, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Canio in I Pagliacci and Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera. He also had great success as Pinkerton  in Madama Butterfly in Braunschweig. There he was immediately invited back as Salvator Rosa in Antonio Gomes’ Salvator Rosa. In January 2011 he will guest as Don Alvaro at Mainfrankentheater Würzburg.

Ray M. Wade Jr.'s website