Andrew McKinley (1903 – 11 January 1996) was an Americanoperatictenor,violinist,arts administrator,music educator, and school administrator. Although he mainly performed in the United States, he had an active international singing career with major opera companies andsymphony orchestras from the 1940s through the 1960s. His repertoire spanned a wide range, from leading tenor parts to character roles.
As a performer McKinley is best remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of two operas byGian Carlo Menotti: Nika Magadoff in thePulitzer Prize winningThe Consul (1950) and King Kaspar in thePeabody Award winningAmahl and the Night Visitors (1951).[1] The latter opera was made by theNBC Opera Theatre, and McKinley filmed several more operas with that organization during his career. He also taught violin at theJuilliard School of Music for almost four decades and in 1968 founded the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in Wheatley Heights, Long Island.[2]
Born inPittsburgh, McKinley entered theInstitute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School) as a violin major in 1922. He later joined the violin faculty of the school's pre-college division in the early 1930s; remaining as an instructor at Juilliard until 1970. While a student at Juilliard he began performing as a violinist, mainly in orchestras and chamber ensembles. He continued to play the violin for the rest of his life.[2]
Although his performance career started and finished as a violinist, McKinley became more well known to audiences internationally for his work as a singer. He began his singing career as a concert singer in the United States, but had his first major successes when he branched out into opera in the 1940s. He appeared with several leadingopera houses in both the United States and Europe during his career,[2] including theGlyndebourne Festival Opera where he was seen as Malcolm inGiuseppe Verdi'sMacbeth in 1947.[3]
In 1946 McKinley made his debut with theBoston Symphony Orchestra as the tenor soloist for performances ofGiuseppe Verdi'sMessa da Requiem withFrances Yeend as the soprano soloist.[4] He later sang Verdi's Requiem with Yeend again for his debut performance with thePhiladelphia Orchestra in 1951 under conductorEugene Ormandy.[5] Also in 1946, he sang in radio broadcasts with theNBC Symphony Orchestra under conductorArturo Toscanini.[6] In 1946–1947 he was committed to thePhiladelphia La Scala Opera Company; making his debut with the company as Turiddu inCavalleria rusticana withElda Ercole andHerva Nelli alternating in the role of Santuzza.[7] In 1950 he returned to Philadelphia to create the role of Nika Magadoff in the world premiere ofGian Carlo Menotti'sThe Consul,[8] and continued with the production when it moved toBroadway later that year.[9] He also sang the part atLa Scala in Milan in 1951.[10]
In 1952 McKinley made his first appearance with theChicago Symphony Orchestra as the tenor soloist inLudwig van Beethoven'sSymphony No. 9 at theRavinia Festival with fellow soloistsEileen Farrell,Jane Hobson, andMack Harrell.[11] That same year he was the tenor soloist inHector Berlioz'sRequiem with conductorCharles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at theTanglewood Festival.[12] In 1953 he portrayed Prince Shuisky toGeorge London'sBoris Godunov at theMetropolitan Opera.[13] That same year he sang the role of Nika Magadoff again with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
In 1954 McKinley sang in the very first season of theLyric Opera of Chicago; appearing as Grumio inVittorio Giannini'sThe Taming of the Shrew.[14] He also sang in concert performances with theBaltimore Symphony Orchestra that year; including singing Prince Shuisky to the Boris ofJerome Hines and the title part in Berlioz'sLa damnation de Faust.[15] He returned to Baltimore in 1956 to sing the role of Camille inFranz Lehár'sThe Merry Widow.[16] In 1957 he was the tenor soloist in the world premiere ofCecil Effinger'soratorioThe Invisible Fire atHoch Auditorium in Lawrence, Kansas with theKansas City Philharmonic under conductorThor Johnson.[17]
After the critical success ofThe Consul, Menotti was invited byNBC to compose an opera for television which was to be performed by the newly createdNBC Opera Theatre (NBCOT). What resulted was the highly successfulChristmas operaAmahl and the Night Visitors which was premiered onChristmas Eve of 1951 in a national broadcast to millions.[18] For this production, Menotti enlisted the forces of many of the singers fromThe Consul; including McKinley who was cast in the role of King Kaspar. Menotti's story portrayed Kaspar as being hard of hearing and once joked that he had written it so because his brother "had always believed one of the kings was deaf since he never got all the presents he’d asked for".[19] McKinley continued to play Kaspar, along with the other original adult cast members, for annual live television broadcasts up through 1964.[20] They also gave annual national tours ofAmahl, performing with symphony orchestras in concerts throughout the United States.[19]
Amahl and the Night Visitors was a triumph for the NBC Opera Theatre, and McKinley was soon engaged by NBC to perform in several other opera broadcasts on the television programNBC Television Opera Theatre. He sang in two more world premieres for the NBCOT; the roles of Anuchkin inBohuslav Martinů'sThe Marriage (1953)[21] and "The Voice of the Letterbox" inLukas Foss'Griffelkin (1955).[22] Some of the other roles he filmed with the company included Captain Vere inBenjamin Britten'sBilly Budd (1952),[23] Herodes inRichard Strauss'Salome (1954),[24] Monostatos inWolfgang Amadeus Mozart'sThe Magic Flute (1956),[25] and Prince Shuisky inModest Mussorgsky'sBoris Godunov (1957).[26]
After retiring from his singing career in the mid-1960s, McKinley continued to perform occasionally as an ensemble player on the violin. In 1958 he resigned from his post as director of the Bronx House Music School (a position he had held since 1923). That same year he founded the Suzanne and Nathaniel Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, a summer music camp in Wheatley Heights, Long Island. He remained involved with the camp up into the latter years of his life. He notably helped establish a 40-concert summer festival sponsored by the Center. He died at the age of 92 atSt. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan. He was married to the concert pianist and academic Lily Miki McKinley.[2]
Andrew McKinley tenor.
Andrew McKinley opera.
