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 the characters on stage.

McKinny recently opened the Metropolitan Opera’s season as Joseph De Rocher in a new Ivo van Hove production of Dead Man Walking. His portrayal was acclaimed by The Washington Post for its 'figurative and literal muscular force … a richly human performance [and] revelatory singing'. He has also recently appeared as the title character in Don Giovanni (Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera), Escamillo in Carmen (Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Houston Grand Opera), and Mozart’s Figaro (Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Houston Grand Opera). McKinny is a frequent guest artist at Los Angeles Opera, where he sang Stanley Kowalski in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire opposite Renée Fleming as Blanche DuBois, and at Santa Fe Opera, where he has appeared as Jochanaan in Salome and Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic.

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, 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).