Donnie Ray Albert

Donnie Ray Albert is an American baritone who created the title role in Houston Grand Opera's landmark 1976 Porgy and Bess, opposite Clamma Dale's Bess. He trained at Louisiana State University and, under Bruce Foote and the tenor Thomas Hayward, Southern Methodist University, and made his professional debut in 1975 as the lead in Joplin's Treemonisha at Houston Grand Opera. The production transferred to Broadway and its recording won a Grammy Award. He went on to debut at New York City Opera, Chicago, San Francisco and La Scala, and later joined the voice faculty of the University of Texas at Austin.