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Described by The Times as “mesmerising, with an intensity that almost sears the flesh”, Clare Presland is a former winner of the Chilcott Award and has firmly established herself on the international operatic and concert platforms.

 

Recent and forthcoming engagements for Clare include PIA in the world premiere of Turnage’s Festen at the Royal Ballet and Opera and the Finnish National Opera and Ballet; PRINCE ORLOFSKY in Die Fledermaus at Opera Holland Park; MRS SEDLEY in Peter Grimes at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; Ligeti’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the BBC Proms; Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben at Wigmore Hall; AUNTIE in Peter Grimes; AKSINYA / FEMALE CONVICT in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk; PAGE in Salome at Staatsoper Hamburg; HIPPOLYTA in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival in Japan; LUCRETIA in The Rape of Lucretia with English Touring Opera; Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Elgar’s The Music Makers with the North London Chorus; Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Cambridge Philharmonic; and Dani Howard’s one-woman show The Yellow Wallpaper (world premiere) at Sadler’s Wells, the Copenhagen Festival, and the Opera Nova Festival in Prague.

 

Clare’s recent operatic performances include: QUEEN OF HEARTS & RED QUEEN in Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, a co-production with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Irish National Opera (recently released on video); SECOND ESQUIRE and VOICE FROM ABOVE in Parsifal at Liceu Barcelona; MRS LOVETT at West Green Opera; a return to English National Opera for Die tote Stadt; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Opéra de Lille; POPOVA in Walton’s The Bear at Opera Holland Park; COUNTESS SUSANNA in Il segreto di Susanna at Opera Holland Park and Scottish Opera; AKSINYA in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at Opéra de Lyon; VARVARA in Káťa Kabanová at Opera Holland Park; KOMPONIST in Ariadne auf Naxos at Longborough Festival Opera; La Traviata at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Musikfest Bremen; HERMIA in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Hyogo Performing Arts Centre, Japan, English National Opera, and the Aldeburgh Festival; PATIENT 2 in Venables’ 4.48 Psychosis (world premiere) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Lyric Hammersmith; CHRISTINA in Eichberg’s Glare (world premiere) at the Linbury Studio Theatre, ROH; RED QUEEN in Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra at New Music Dublin; FENENA in Nabucco with Chelsea Opera Group at Cadogan Hall; KITCHEN BOY in Rusalka with Scottish Opera; and CARMEN (title role) and MISS JESSEL in The Turn of the Screw at Nevill Holt Opera.

 

Since making her acclaimed debut as PALESTINIAN WOMAN in The Death of Klinghoffer at English National Opera, she has appeared there in productions such as REALTOR in Tansy Davies’ Between Worlds (world premiere); WARDROBE MISTRESS / SCHOOLBOY / PAGE in Lulu; SONYETKA in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk; PAGE in Salome; FLORA in La Traviata; MERCEDES (cover CARMEN) in Carmen; MARGRET (cover MARIE) in Wozzeck; WOWKLE in La fanciulla del West; and SECOND LADY in The Magic Flute.

 

On the concert platform, she made her Wigmore Hall debut singing the world premiere of Alexander Goehr’s The Combat of Joseph de la Reina and the Devil with the Nash Ensemble; performed A Song on the End of the World by Francis Potts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Three Choirs Festival; and made her Barbican Hall debut in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Other recent concert engagements include appearances at festivals such as Al Bustan, the Weesp Chamber Music Festival, and Musique à Marsac, performing large-scale works including Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été, Mozart’s Requiem, and the Stabat Mater by Dvořák and Rossini.