About

Lyric mezzo soprano, Claire Cooper, grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and received a Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins. She is a recipient of the George Castelle Memorial in Voice from Peabody Institute and is currently studying with renowned soprano, Elizabeth Futral. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has most recently taken part in a virtual production of Die Zauberflöte as Zweite Damme with Opera NEO. In Fall of 2019, Claire debuted the leading role of Elizabeth Bennet in the staged premiere of Kirke Mechem’s Pride and Prejudice with Peabody Opera Theatre. She has also performed the role of Sesto in Giulio Cesare with Chicago Summer Opera and Toledo in Zach Redler’s The Falling and the Rising with Peabody Institute. Other notable performances include Così fan Tutte (Dorabella) with New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Le Nozze di Figaro (Barbarina) with the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, and scenes from L’incorinazione di Poppea (Nerone) with UNC Opera.

Claire is also seasoned in Musical Theatre and Pop performance as she was the music director and primary arranger for her collegiate a capella group, the UNC Walk-Ons. The Walk-Ons received 2nd place in 2015 and 3rd place in 2017 at the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella (ICCA) quarter-finals under her music direction.

In addition to performance, Claire possesses passion for teaching and directing. She has assistant directed both spring main stage operas with Peabody Institute throughout her master’s degree: Il Trittico directed by Garnett Bruce in 2019 and La Rondine directed by Samuel Mungo in 2020. While completing her Bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Claire assistant directed UNC Opera’s 2017 Fall Opera Scenes. Additionally, she is credited for music directing musicals and song cycles such as Mel Brooks’ The Producers, Songs for a New World, and The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown with Company Carolina. Before attending Peabody, Claire also taught voice lessons to young singers ages 8-16 at the Chapel Hill School of Musical Arts.