American Bass Wm. Clay Thompson has been praised by Opera News for his “mahogany-timbred” voice. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Mr. Thompson is in his second year as a Resident Artist with Minnesota Opera, and is known for his "...strong, rich, and warm color, yet the ability to cross over into bass-baritone repertoire." Last season’s engagements included the cover of Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Santa Fe Opera as well as cancelled performances as Zuniga in Carmen with Arizona Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. The 2021-22 season sees him make his Metropolitan Opera debut in the Octet for Brett Dean’s Hamlet. In addition, he will cover the Master of Ceremonies in Cinderella with The Metropolitan Opera and will sing Zuniga in Carmen with Arizona Opera.

Mr. Thompson’s 2019-2020 season included reprising the role of Suleyman Pasha in The Ghosts of Versailles at the Chateau de Versailles Spectacles in France, Handel’s Messiah with Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra,  a series of Opera UNTRAPPED online concerts with Wolf Trap Opera, and his return the Minnesota Opera as Leporello in Don Giovanni (cancelled). His 2018-2019 season at Minnesota Opera included performances as Dottore Grenvil in La traviata, the French General in Silent Night, Crébillon in La rondine, and Charles Comiskey in the world premiere of Joel Puckett's The Fix. Additionally, he returned to The Glimmerglass Festival in the summer of 2019, where he performed as Suleyman Pasha in The Ghosts of Versailles, Dottore Grenvil in Francesca Zambello's La traviata, and the title role in Benjamin Britten's Noah's Flood.