In New York, McFerrin's singing career prospered. A 1949 appearance in a small role in the Kurt Weill Broadway musical, "Lost in the Stars", led to acquaintance with Boris Goldovsky. Goldovsky presented the baritone in the title role of "Rigoletto" at the Tanglewood Music Festival in 1949 and cast him in his company, the New England Opera Theater (later the Goldovsky Opera Theater) as Valentin in "Faust" and in "Iphigénie en Tauride" by Gluck. That year he also performed as Amonasro in "Aida" with the National Negro Opera Company and made his New York City Opera debut, singing the role of Popaloi, a voodoo doctor, in the premiere of William Grant Still's Haitian opera, "Troubled Island".