Richard Trey Smagur, of Clarkesville, Georgia, who has been noted for his “attractive lyric tenor” and “vivid presence” (Opera Today), was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2017. Mr. Smagur’s 2022-23 season includes important debuts and a return to the Metropolitan Opera. Trey’s season begins at Virginia Opera, where he will make his house and role debut as Siegmund in Die Walküre. Trey also joins the Lyric Opera of Chicago to cover the role of Don Jose in Carmen. In the late spring, Mr. Smagur makes his principal debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Der Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer, a role which he previously sang to great acclaim in Houston. He will appear in the summer of 2023 as Erik, his role debut, in Der fliegende Holländer at Santa Fe Opera.
The 2021-2022 season included a return to Houston Grand Opera to perform the role of Don José in Carmen. He then went on to make his house and role debut as First Armored Man in the Metropolitan Opera’s Holiday presentation of The Magic Flute. At HGO, he performed the final scene in Of Mice and Men in a memorial concert for Carlisle Floyd. He also covered Junger Diener at the Metropolitan Opera in Strauss’ Elektra and performed as the tenor soloist for Reno Philharmonic’s presentation of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Trey spent the summer of 2022 as a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap opera, where he sang Alfredo in La Traviata.
Mr. Smagur had the honor of performing extensively during the pandemic as a member of the Atlanta Opera Company players. This included making a role debut as Canio in Pagliacci and singing Don José in a new production of Threepenny Carmen. All of these productions were performed live, as well as filmed. Mr. Smagur also performed digitally with HGO, singing the Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. This production was made available via the streaming platform HGO Digital.
An alum of the Houston Grand Opera studio, Mr. Smagur’s notable roles and debuts included Der Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer and Young Servant in Elektra during his tenure with the company. Smagur also made his Houston Symphony debut as a recitalist performing Schumann’s Dichterliebe in the winter of 2019. During this season, Mr. Smagur also made his debut with the Dallas Symphony as Narraboth in Salome, under the baton of Fabio Luisi.
Notable past performances include returning to the Santa Fe Opera to make his principal role debut as Števa Buryja in Jenůfa to great success. Mr. Smagur also appeared as the tenor soloist in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at The Aspen Music Festival & School under the baton of Patrick Summers.