Recognized by Opera News as “one of the finest singers of his generation,” American bass-baritone Ryan McKinny has earned his reputation as an artist with something to say. His relentless curiosity informs riveting character portrayals and beautifully crafted performances, reminding audiences of their shared humanity with characters on stage and screen.

This season, McKinny stars as Joseph De Rocher in the 25th-anniversary production of Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at San Francisco Opera, following a critically acclaimed turn at the Metropolitan Opera, where the Washington Post praised his “figurative and literal muscular force” and “richly human performance.” He also brings his commanding bass-baritone to several role debuts, appearing as John Proctor in a new Francesca Zambello production of The Crucible at Washington National Opera; as both Michele and Gianni Schicchi in Houston Grand Opera’s first full presentation of Il trittico; and as Lieutenant Horstmayer in the Houston premiere of Puts’ Silent Night, also at HGO, in a new staging by James Robinson. Elsewhere, McKinny joins Cincinnati Opera as Escamillo in Carmen, and Omaha Symphony and Opera Omaha for the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle, an interpretation hailed by the Boston Globe for “a rare blend of dramatic force and subtlety.”

He has recently appeared as the title character in Don Giovanni (Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra), Escamillo in Carmen (Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Houston Grand Opera), De Rocher in Dead Man Walking (Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Mozart’s Figaro (Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Metropolitan Opera). He also created the role of Mac in the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s newest opera, Before It All Goes Dark, recently released on Warner Classics.

McKinny made a critically acclaimed Bayreuth Festival debut as Amfortas in Parsifal, a role he has performed around the world, including appearances at Argentina’s Teatro Cólon, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Dutch National Opera. Other Wagnerian roles include Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde (Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company), Biterolf in Tannhäuser and Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, both at the Metropolitan Opera, Wotan in Opéra de Montréal’s Das Rheingold, Donner/Gunther in Wagner’s Ring cycle (Washington National Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera), and the titular Dutchman in Der fliegende Holländer (Staatsoper Hamburg, Milwaukee Symphony, Glimmerglass Festival, Hawaii Opera Theater, Ópera National de Chile).

McKinny is a regular presence at Santa Fe Opera, where he has appeared as Jochanaan in Salome and Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic, and at Los Angeles Opera, where he has sung Scarpia in Tosca, Count Alamaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, and Stanley Kowalski in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite Renée Fleming as Blanche DuBois. An alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Mr. McKinny often returns to the house in major roles, including the title characters in Don Giovanni and Rigoletto, as well as Jochanaan, hailed by the Houston Press for his “instrument of awe and immense dignity.” His role debut as Jan Nyman in Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves was captured for an upcoming release through HGO’s new partnership with the LSO Live label.

McKinny is a long-time artistic collaborator of composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars, having appeared in Sellars productions of Adams’ Girls of the Golden West (Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera, Dutch National Opera) and Doctor Atomic (Santa Fe Opera), in addition to Adams’ Nixon in China with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has also performed under Sellars’ direction in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex (Sydney Festival), Tristan und Isolde (Canadian Opera Company), and Shostakovich’s Orango with the London Philharmonia and Los Angeles Philharmonic, the latter comprising Esa-Pekka Salonen’s final concerts as music director. He can be heard in the role of Clarence, which he originated, on the Grammy-nominated Nonesuch record of Girls of the Golden West.

Other recent orchestral engagements include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and a double bill of Michael Tilson Thomas’ Rilke Songs and Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with San Francisco Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Bernstein’s Mass with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and National Symphony, Rossini’s Stabat Mater at Grant Park Music Festival, Der Kaiser von Atlantis with Louisville Orchestra, Britten’s War Requiem with Marin Alsop and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Oedipus Rex with Chicago Symphony.

McKinny benefited from early educational opportunities at the Aspen Music Festival, where he sang his first performance of Winterreise accompanied on the piano by Richard Bado, and at the Wolf Trap Opera Company, where he sang Barone di Kelbar in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno, Le Gouverneur in Rossini’s Le comte Ory and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro. McKinny made his Carnegie Hall debut in Handel’s Messiah with the Musica Sacra Orchestra while still a student at the Juilliard School.

The first recipient of Operalia’s Birgit Nilsson Prize for singing Wagner, McKinny has also received the prestigious George London-Kirsten Flagstad Award, presented by the George London Foundation to a singer undertaking a significant Wagnerian career. McKinny represented the United States in the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, where he was a finalist in the Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize, and he was a Grand Finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, captured in the film The Audition.

McKinny draws on his wide-ranging artistic experiences in his increasing work as a film and stage director. Through Helio Arts, he commissioned artists to write, direct, and film original stories, leveraging his personal power to help elevate fresh voices and visions in the classical performing arts world. He has partnered with artists like John Holiday, J’Nai Bridges, Russell Thomas, and Julia Bullock to create stunning films for Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, On Site Opera, and the Glimmerglass Festival. In collaboration with co-director Tonya McKinny, he created a new stage production of Silent Night which premiered at Wolf Trap Opera in August 2024.