Boatwright, McHeniy

views updated

Boatwright, McHeniy

black American bass-baritone; b. Tennile, Ga., Feb. 29, 1928; d. N.Y., Nov. 5, 1994. He studied piano (B.Mus., 1950) and voice (B.Mus., 1954) at the New England Cons, of Music in Boston. In 1953 and 1954 he received Marian Anderson awards. In 1956 he made his formal concert debut in Boston, and in 1958 his first N.Y. concert appearance. After making his operatic debut as Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande at the New England Opera Theater in 1958, he appeared with various opera companies and as a soloist with orchs. He created the central role in Schuller’s opera The Visitation (Hamburg, Oct. 12, 1966).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire