Press

Gretel, Hansel and Gretel- Portland Opera

"Most crucial, the cast was dynamite. One knew in advance that the show had two lovely leads in Sandra Piques Eddy and Maureen McKay, and one listened and watched in awe as they sang, danced and played the siblings with style, color and panache. McKay's soprano was more slender, but her singing was infused with vivacious personality and didn't seem to suffer from her running all over the stage. In Gretel's most florid music, when she imitates the morning lark, McKay ran in place while warbling "tirelireli" and twirled on the high D."
—Opera News

"This production could have been overwhelmed by these inventive and evocative sets were it not for superb performances of the singers. Maureen McKay's Gretel was also totally convincing, and together (Sandra Piques Eddy) they had a great time sticking out their tongues at each other, running around with arms akimbo, and strutting up a kooky, over-the-top improvisational dance after outsmarting the Witch. In the vocal department, both singers topped the charts with gorgeous, resonant voices that still conveyed the just the right amount of naïveté for their characters. Their Angel's Prayer duet was heavenly and came across as a personal statement that went to the heart."
—Oregon Music News

"Sandra Piques Eddy and Maureen McKay (Hansel and Gretel, respectively) are both excellent, convincingly playing energetic and careless children while maintaining the operatic power necessary to hit the back rows of the vast Keller Auditorium."
—The Portland Mercury

"McKay and Eddy were fresh and sweet-voiced throughout."
—The Oregonian

Marzelline, Fidelio- Komische Oper Berlin

"Maureen McKay, a young American soprano (and NYCO veteran) who joined the KOB ensemble this season, made a wonderful impression as Marzelline. She sang with accuracy and agile phrasing, nowhere more so than in the reverent Act I quartet "Mir ist so wünderbar."
—Opera News

Eurydice, Orphée et Eurydice- Opera Company of Philadelphia

"McKay as the doomed wife shows many facets of Eurydice's character in a soprano that is brilliant and can soar."
—WordPress.com

"Maureen McKay sang almost effortlessly as Eurydice and was dramatically riveting while pleading with Orphée to look at her during their fateful journey out of the underworld."
—Philadelphia Inquirer

"The Eurydice, Maureen McKay, sang with lovely tone, and she made a gracious picture as an Eurydice worth going to hell to bring back alive."
—Opera-L

"Maureen McKay was beautiful in voice and appearance as Eurydice."
—Broad Street Review

Elisa, Il re pastore- Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

"My favorable impression of Maureen McKay in last summer's Una Cosa Rara was here confirmed with a securely sung Elisa, a maid who briefly enjoys enacting the longings of a noblewoman. Miss McKay is capable of regaling us with accurate cascades of fioritura, likewise deploying her crystal clear tone in melting legato phrases. Her spunky stage savvy is equally bewitching."
—Opera Today

"Maureen McKay's Elisa was a delight, singing with a creamy voice, easy production and unstrained high range and coloratura."
—St. Louis Post Dispatch

Musetta, La bohéme- Opera Omaha

"Soprano Maureen McKay (Musetta) revealed a bright and sweetly lyrical voice."
—Omaha World Herald

Gretel, Hansel and Gretel - Tulsa Opera

"Maureen McKay as Gretel and Blythe Gaissert as Hansel believably embodied a couple of rambunctious children, scampering about the stage with enviable energy. They also have voices that easily cut through the often thick orchestration of Humperdinck's score, and that blend beautifully in the duets. McKay's performance of Gretel's song at the opening of Act II, where she happily greets the dawn after the night in the forest, was just about perfect — full of wonder and happiness, warmth and brightness."
—Tulsa World

Zerlina, Don Giovanni - New Orleans Opera

"Maureen McKay's clear, transparent soprano was a delight, from her early duet with Don Giovanni through a smooth and winsome "Batti, batti," to "Vedrai, Carino." McKay's voice is even from top to bottom, with a crystalline tone that is irresistible alone but also blends well in ensembles."
—St. Bernard Voice

"Maureen McKay, a lovely, fresh-voiced Zerlina, was a notable asset to the ensemble."
—Opera News

"Maureen McKay's was a perky, sweet-voiced Zerlina."
—The Times Picayune

Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro - Opera Cleveland

"Maureen McKay's spunky Susanna is a delight, ever attentive to phrasing and gesture."
—Plain Dealer Reporter

"Maureen McKay is just about ideal as the maid Susanna: sprightly and intelligent, with an unaffected sensuality and a sparkling soprano voice."
—Jerome Crossley
WCLV classical FM

"Hardy and Maureen McKay — a Susanna with a clear voice and pert, disarming charm — made a dynamic, winning pair."
—Opera News

Lilla, Una Cosa Rara - Opera Theatre of Saint Louis:

"Soprano Maureen McKay was absolutely delightful as the ingenuous shepherdess Lilla, and had the audience in stitches from her first entrance, running frantically onto stage and literally throwing herself at the Queen's feet. McKay has a lovely clear voice, and her perfect acting really helped make the production."
—Opera Today

"Soprano Maureen McKay, as Lilla, was ideal for her role: cute, "relatively" smart, clear of voice and intent."
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Maureen McKay turned in quite a spunky performance as Lilla. She lavished beautiful phrasing on her lovely (and blessedly still) second act aria, which could have been written for Susanna in "Figaro."
—Opera Today

"Foremost among the eight featured vocalists are Keith Phares and Maureen McKay as shepherd and shepherdess Lubino and Lilla, whose impending nuptials the rest of the cast is intent on preventing. They sing admirably separately and beautifully together."
—Riverfront Times

"Of the singers, only the bright-voiced soprano Maureen McKay, as the shepherdess heroine Lilla, really made a case for why this rare thing deserved any notice at all."
—Wall Street Journal

Soprano Soloist, An Afternoon in Vienna - Saint Louis Symphony:

"The guest soloist was charming, too. Soprano Maureen McKay, who just starred as Lilla in Opera Theatre of St. Louis' production of "Una Cosa Rara," sang the "Vilja-Lied" from Lehar's "The Merry Widow" and Strauss' "Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring)," both in German. Her bright, silvery voice soared above them prettily in the high passages. "Voices," in particular, proved a huge hit with the audience."
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Soprano Soloist, Carmina Burana - Utah Symphony:

"McKay was equally charming in her shorter appearance; her sweetly lyric delivery of "In trutina" was one of the evening's highlights."
—The Salt Lake Tribune

Norina, Don Pasquale - Anchorage Opera:

"She gives the waiter a wink, and he rips up her check with a shrug, helpless against her charms. It is not flattery to say McKay is positively irresistible. Abreu's elegant duet with McKay was incredibly sincere and honest, and it successfully nestled a poignant heartstring-tugger in the midst of a comic three-ring circus. When he was tackling his higher range and she was in her lower, their blending was achingly beautiful."
—Anchorage Daily News

Pamina, Die Zauberflöte - Lyric Opera of Kansas City:

"Boyd and McKay make an attractive couple and sing their parts with accomplishment."
—AnE Vibe

Lightfoot McLendon, Cold Sassy Tree - Atlanta Opera:

"Maureen McKay made a charming Lightfoot McLendon: her exchanges with Will were natural and engaging."
—Opera News

Gretel, Hänsel und Gretel - Opera Company of Philadelphia:

"Maureen McKay (Gretel) and Lauren Curnow (Hänsel) were both in possession of strong, youthful voices. More impressive, they blended their sounds beautifully."
—Philadelphia Inquirer

"The lively titular duo blended their sopranos well….Maureen McKay's visually ideal Gretel an easy-sounding top (up to D) and clearer German diction."
—Opera UK

Caroline Gaines, Margaret Garner - New York City Opera:

"Another notable performance was given by Maureen McKay who seemed to embody the perky and radical Caroline Gaines, daughter of the slave owner Edward Gaines."
—Opera Today

Papagena, Die Zauberflöte - Los Angeles Philharmonic:

"Maureen McKay proved a lusty Papagena."
—Los Angeles Times

Soprano Soloist, Shema - Music of Remembrance:

"Soprano Maureen McKay was brilliantly expressive in Simon Sargon's "Shema" composed to Primo Levi poems."
—Seattle Times

"The vocal part was brilliantly delivered by Maureen McKay, a recent graduate of the Seattle Opera's Young Artists Program. She seems to be headed for a considerable career: clarity of diction and line and powerful emotional commitment were rendered all the more compelling for her ability just to stand there and sing, with none of the distracting mannerisms that undermine the work of too many singers."
—Bernard Jacobson

Despina, Così fan tutte - New York City Opera:

"Despina is sung by Maureen McKay: small, energetic, fleet of foot and our very image of the part."
—The New York Times

"Maureen McKay conveys all of Despina's cynicism and sass."
—Newsday

"The smart Despina was Maureen McKay, in another successful NYCO debut."
—Opera News

"Maureen McKay sang a perky, unexaggerated Despina."
—Classics Today.com

"The most delightful performance belonged to Maureen McKay, who sang the maid Despina. McKay is the kind of feisty and assured performer who can take an opera cliché and make it fresh and sensual. Her Despina was fresh, sassy and vocally compelling."
—Columbia Spectator

Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro - Wolf Trap Opera Company:

"But the undisputed star of the show was the young soprano Maureen McKay, playing the willful and wily Susanna. Armed with a silvery, precisely aimed voice, natural stage presence and the kind of beautifully detailed acting you don´t see often enough on the operatic stage, McKay turned in a smart, sexy and thoroughly charming performance."
—The Washington Post

"Soprano Maureen McKay is a sprightly and winning Susanna. Her youthful voice, while light in texture, delivers plenty of volume. She´s a whirling dervish of energy dominating even the Filene Center´s massive outdoor stage."
—The Washington Times

Carmina Burana, The National Symphony Orchestra:

"...soprano Maureen McKay's voice was captivating and subtle..."
—The Washingon Post

Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro, Seattle Opera Young Artist Program:

"...Maureen McKay shone as Susanna... McKay´s warm, agile soprano and pert spunk were totally satisfactory."
—Seattle Post-Intellegencer

"Not only was Maureen McKay properly feisty, courageous and manipulative as Susanna, but she also has one of the warmest, most lyrical sopranos I have heard."
—Queen Anne News