Biography
Baritone Peter McGillivray has been celebrated in the press as “a gifted comic actor,” with a “rich, flexible and strong voice.” In recent seasons he has been seen on opera and concert stages from coast to coast, specializing in comic roles such as Dr. Bartolo in Barber of Seville, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S. Pinafore, and Stubb in Moby Dick. He also excels in interpreting more dramatic fare such as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Don Pizarro in Fidelio, and concert performances of Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Haydn’s Creation, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Orff’s Carmina Burana.
His recent and upcoming seasons include appearances with Manitoba Opera (Elixir of Love, Tosca, Le nozze di Figaro), Vancouver Opera (Midsummer Night’s Dream), a reprise of Basset in Rocking Horse Winner with Tapestry Opera, and his return to Pacific Opera Victoria as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro. He also joins Visual and Performing Arts Newmarket in recital.
He has performed lead roles with the Canadian Opera Company as well as opera companies in Dallas, Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Manitoba, Hamilton, Ottawa, and Quebec City. Additionally, he joined the Metropolitan Opera in 2010-11 for productions of La Bohème and Strauss’ Capriccio. He is particularly proud of his longstanding association with Tapestry Opera having created several roles for productions including Morris Panych and James Rolfe’s The Overcoat, Omar Daniel’s The Shadow, Juliet Palmer’s Shelter and Gareth Williams’ Rocking Horse Winner.