Born in Wolverhampton, Claire studied at the Birmingham School of Music, at the Royal Academy of Music with Rae Woodland and Kenneth Bowen, and subsequently with Linda Esther-Grey. She joined Kent Opera during her final year at the Academy, was awarded the Wessex Glyndebourne Association Prize in 1998 and in 1999 made her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut singing the role of Vitellia La Clemenza di Tito.
An adaptable soprano, Claire has enjoyed success in the early music field where she has worked with ensembles such as The Tallis Scholars and the Gabrieli Consort, with whom she made her BBC Proms début in Handel’s Dixit Dominus and is known for her performances of the soprano solos in Allegri’s Miserere.
Claire’s oratorio experience is extremely broad and she is particularly renowned for her performances of Verdi’s Requiem, Brahms’ Requiem and Mozart’s C Minor Mass. Her recent repertoire has ranged from regularly performed favourites such as Verdi’s Requiem and Mozart’s Requiem to less common works such as Symanowski’s Stabat Mater and Elgar’s The Light of Life.
Claire’s discography includes the role of The Believer in Rutland Boughton’s Bethlehem for Naxos, Brahm’s Deutsche Requiem with Jeremy Backhouse and the Vasari Singers for Guild, and the world première of Jonathan Dove’s The Far Theatricals of Day with Nicholas Cleobury. Claire has also recorded the Pergolesi Stabat Mater with the counter-tenor Andrew Watts.
Claire has been a member of St Bride’s choir since 1987 and is very proud of her continued involvement.
