Praised for his “musically deployed light tenor voice,” (Opera News), “strong comic singing,” (Boston Globe) “clarion tone,” and “glowing intensity,” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), tenor Gregory Zavracky is a frequent performer on opera, concert and recital stages.
Gregory has recently sung Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène with Odyssey Opera, Handel’s Messiah with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Matt Aucoin’s Crossing with the American Repertory Theater, Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville with Townsend Opera, Britten’s Les Illuminations with the Aurea Ensemble, Tamino in Boston Lyric Opera’s family production of The Magic Flute, Purcell’s Tempest with the Henry Purcell Society of Boston, Bach’s Magnificat with Back Bay Chorale, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi and Buoso’s Ghost with Opera Saratoga, Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Opera in the Heights, Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte with Cape Cod Opera, Prince Dauntless in Once Upon a Mattress with Chautauqua Opera, and in opera and pops concerts with both the Chautauqua and Utah Symphony.
Gregory is a frequent soloist with such groups as the Providence Singers, Commonwealth Chorale, Coro Allegro, Chorus Pro Musica, the Masterworks Chorale, Nashoba Valley Chorale, Falmouth Chorale and Orchestra and the Harvard Radcliffe Society. His most frequently performed works include Carmina Burana, Messiah, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart Requiem, and Bach Magnificat.
He has sung in the world premieres of Five Boroughs Music Festival’s Five Borough Songbook, David Wolfson’s Faith Operas, Ketty Nez’s The Fiddler and the Old Woman of Rumelia, James Yannatos’ Rocket’s Red Blare, Anthony DeRitis’ Three American Songs, Steven Sametz’ A Child’s Requiem, and Dan Shore’s Works of Mercy.
Gregory has recently given recitals at the Highland Center for the Arts, Highfield Hall, the Cotuit Center for the Arts, University of Connecticut, and Brown University. He is a frequent performer in the Handel and Haydn Society ensemble. He was an award winner in the Gerda Lissner Foundation competition and a finalist in the Liederkranz and Connecticut Opera Guild competitions.
Gregory is in his eleventh year as a voice instructor at the University of Connecticut and eighth year as a teaching associate at Brown University. He has spent twelve summers on faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He is a board member and the American art song editor for the website, SongHelix. Scholarly writings include his dissertation, “Libby Larsen’s My Ántonia: The Song Cycle and the Tonal Landscape of the American Prairie,” and four articles for the Journal of Singing: “A Guide to Libby Larsen’s My Ántonia,” “A Guide to Tom Cipullo’s Captivating Song Cycle, Late Summer,” “Beyond the Spirituals: Harry T. Burleigh’s Five Songs of Laurence Hope,” and “John Musto’s Viva Sweet Love: An Exploration of Love in All its Forms.” A fifth article on the songs of Rebecca Clarke awaits publication.
As a composer, he has received commissions and awards for his music, which may be heard on his Soundcloud page: soundcloud.com/greg-zavracky/sets. His music has recently been programmed by various concert series including Calliope’s Call (MA), Music of Norway Pond (NH), Virginia Tech, and the Cotuit Center for the Arts (MA). Gregory has twice been a finalist for the NATS Art Song Award for his song cycles Sea Garden and Slabs of the Sunburnt West.
Gregory received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University. Previous degrees include a Bachelor of Arts in music from Emory University, followed by two Master of Music degrees from New England Conservatory in voice performance and opera studies as a student of Edward Zambara.