Corey 
Pursuing Masters in Opera Performance at The Boston Conservatory (Boston, Massachusetts)
ACU alum Isaac Bray dreams of becoming a professional opera singer who impacts his audience with every performance. With a full-tuition scholarship to The Boston Conservatory, he seems to be well on his way.
Isaac’s goal is to glorify God with each performance. “You will never know what people are going through or what little thing you might do that will inspire them, so you have to treat every performance – big or small – with equal care and importance,” he says.
“My hope at the end of a performance is to be completely empty and exhausted because I gave everything of myself to help inspire my audiences and show them the God that I represent.”
Taking the lead
While at ACU, Isaac played lead roles in four years of opera. Now in Boston, he continues to land top roles as he pursues a master’s degree in opera performance.
“I’ve been blessed to be offered a leading role in every opera production so far since I have started my graduate work,” Isaac says. “We also had a ‘scenes’ program in the fall where we did excerpts from several operas, and I had lead in every scene.”
Isaac credits ACU’s music faculty with “how well they pushed me and prepared me for work at the next level.” He says, “The music professors at ACU offered me so many years of wisdom, experience and devotion to their craft. These are people who have been out in the field and are still continuing to learn and contribute to the field of music while helping students learn what it takes to be a true musician.”
“Most of my colleagues at the Boston Conservatory have never heard of ACU, but I have tried to show them the high quality of my education by the work I do every day,” he says. “I have been chosen for more lead roles than other students, and I passed out of most of my remedial classes. I am able to actively contribute to discussions in my courses, and my musicianship is at the same level as everyone else’s, if not a bit higher.”
Though Isaac received a stellar music education at ACU, he says he gained much more.
Well-rounded experience
“ACU offered me so many different opportunities that allowed me to grow as a complete, well-rounded person and a faithful Christian,” he says. “The biggest lesson I learned from the professors is the charge that ‘to whom much is given, much is expected.’ They never let me settle for less, and always challenged and pushed me with love and care.”
“From professors opening their homes, to Spring Break Campaigns and other service events, to many different student groups that offered fun and exciting opportunities, I was able to grow as a full and complete person during my time at ACU.”
As a student, Isaac was an officer of the Service Action Leadership Team, a Sing Song host and a member of the A Cappella Chorus, among other activities.
“ACU exposed me to many different worldviews and different views on a life of faith,” Isaac says. “While some people may feel that ACU puts you in some kind of bubble, I had the opposite experience. I was truly able to decide who I was as a Christian and as a person because of the all of the different aspects of faith that were integrated into my education. The most important thing I learned from ACU was to maintain my identity in Christ and to be in the world as a Christian but not of the world.”