Praised for her vibrant voice and elegant stage presence, Canadian soprano Layla Claire is recognized internationally as a distinguished artist in opera, concert, and recital performances. Most recently, she made her mark in two world premieres: starring as Venere in Salvatore Sciarrino's Venere e Adone at the Hamburg Staatsoper and portraying Jeanne Boitel in Opéra de Montréal’s La beauté du monde. Other recent highlights include the title role in Alcina at both the Hamburg Staatsoper and the Karlsruhe Handel Festival, as well as portraying Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra de Montréal and Opernhaus Zürich. Renowned for her commitment to new works and her interpretations of Mozart and Handel, Ms. Claire is now expanding her repertoire to include roles in the young dramatic soprano category.

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Over the past decade, Ms. Claire has demonstrated her exceptional artistry through a diverse array of operatic roles. Her compelling portrayal of Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress received acclaim with both Pittsburgh Opera and The Metropolitan Opera, where The New York Times praised her rendition of “No Word From Tom” for its “kaleidoscopic colors of her top notes.” At the Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Claire also took on the roles of Marenka in The Bartered Bride, and Helena in The Enchanted Island. Other notable engagements include the Governess in The Turn of the Screw and Nitocris in Belshazzar with Opernhaus Zürich; Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Tusnelda in Arminio at the Karlsruhe Handel Festival, Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites with the Washington National Opera, and Catherine in Wuthering Heights with Opéra National de Lorraine.

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A leading figure in Mozart's operatic repertoire, Claire has performed as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with the Canadian Opera Company, Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Philadelphia, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at both the Glyndebourne Festival and Tanglewood. She also portrayed Donna Elvira at the Salzburger Festspiele and has taken on the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at both Pittsburgh and Minnesota Operas. Ms. Claire has received notable accolades including the Prix des Amis d’Aix-en-Provence for best Mozart performance and the Mozart Prize at the Wilhelm Stenhammar International Competition.

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Ms. Claire is a highly sought-after concert artist, lauded for her "clarity and robustness" and "luminous soprano" (The New York Times). She is particularly acclaimed for her interpretations of the soprano solos in Mahler's Symphony No. 2, with performances alongside the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Université de Montréal, and the Baltimore Symphony. She has also graced the stage with other prestigious ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Cairo Opera Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, and at festivals such as the Grant Park Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, and Festival de Lanaudière. Her expansive symphonic repertoire includes major works such as Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Mass in C and Choral Fantasy, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Haydn's Harmoniemesse and The Seasons, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate, and Dvořák's Requiem. As a committed recitalist, she has collaborated with the Boyne Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, and was featured in a special recital at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, presented alongside its Carpeaux exhibit.

 

Ms. Claire debuted her album, Songbird, alongside pianist Marie-Eve Scarfone under the ATMA Classical label in 2017. She has also made notable appearances in documentaries, including the BBC program What Makes A Great Soprano, hosted by Dame Kiri te Kanawa, and the PBS American Masters special James Levine: America’s Maestro. Additionally, she has been featured in Met Live in HD performances of The Enchanted Island, L’elisir d’amore, and Don Carlos.

 

Layla has earned recognition from several esteemed foundations and competitions in the classical music world. In 2013, she received the Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, awarded annually to Canada’s most promising young classical musician, and the previous year, she was honored with the Bernard Diamant Prize from the same organization. Ms. Claire made history in 2010 as the inaugural recipient of The Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award, an honor she received again the following year for her continued excellence. Her competitive success includes top honors at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Competition and recognition at prestigious events such as the Queen Elisabeth International Competition, the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the George London Foundation, and the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists. Additionally, she was a CBC Radio-Canada Jeunes Artistes recital winner and has received scholarships from the J. Desmarais Foundation.

 

A graduate of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program, Ms. Claire has honed her craft at some of the world’s leading institutions for vocal training. She has performed as a young artist with renowned programs such as Britten-Pears Arts, the International Vocal Arts Institute (IVAI), and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Claire was also a two-time Voice Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival (2007, 2009) and later participated as a Vocal Fellow at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute in 2010, as well as the Mozart Residency at the Académie d’Aix-en-Provence.

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Originally from British Columbia, Canada, Layla Claire earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Vocal Performance from l’Université de Montréal. She later completed a second Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the Curtis Institute of Music.