SAMSON MCCRADY is an American baritone from Tucson, Arizona.
Most recently, Samson garnered Third Place in the prestigious Montserrat Caballé International Singing Competition. This past summer, he appeared in Back Home: Through the Stage Door, a feature film produced by the Merola Opera Program and directed by David Paul. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was scheduled to make his role debut as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with the Merola Opera Program as part of their 2020 season. Samson was a 2021 and 2020 district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
As a Cafritz Young Artist of Washington National Opera, Samson made numerous appearances on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage. Most significantly, he sang the role of Papageno in the beloved Maurice Sendak production of The Magic Flute under the baton of Eun Sun Kim. He also made appearances as Wagner in Gounod’s Faust, Sciarrone in Puccini’s Tosca, and the Policeman in the world premiere of Carlos Simon’s Night Trip. Samson also shared the honor of performing in Francesca Zambello’s presentation of Menotti’s The Consul for the United States Supreme Court.
Other operatic appearances include “Pa” Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up (Aspen Music Festival), Marchese d’Obigny in Verdi’s La Traviata (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis), and Edward G. Robinson in Robert Xavier Rodriguez’s Frida (Cincinnati Opera).
An avid cyclist, Samson has worked professionally as a bicycle mechanic and completed the 333 mile bicycle tour from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh, PA in the summer of 2020. He discovered his love of singing through his participation in the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, where he also learned fancy trick rodeo roping.
Samson McCrady is a student of internationally-renowned tenor Neil Shicoff and holds a Master of Music degree from CCM.