Clare Shearer
Clare’s students have won some of the world’s major singing competitions such as the Cardiff Singer of the World and Neue Stimmen competitions and the Toonkunst Oratorio Prize at the International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch (IVC). Many of her students are Samling Artists and alumni of prestigious Young Artists Programmes such as the National Opera Studio and now work in major European opera houses, including Vienna State Opera.
My main aim in teaching is to establish a deep emotional connectedness with the music through physical alignment, technical ability and an appreciation of languages.
Born in Hamilton, Scotland, mezzo-soprano Clare Shearer studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now RCS) and was the first recipient of an English-speaking Union Scholarship to study at the Banff Centre in Canada. After an illustrious career in Opera, performing in the world’s leading opera houses, Clare decided to devote her time fully to the training and nurturing of the next generation of opera singers.
In opera, Clare has sung, among many others, the roles of Mary (Der fliegende Holländer), Grimgerde and Siegrune (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Wowkle (La Fanciulla del West), Albine (Thaïs) and Sosostris (The Midsummer Marriage) at The Royal Opera House; Siegrune, Mary Wollstonecraft (Sally Beamish’s Monster), Flora (La Traviata), Mercedès (Carmen), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Preziosilla (La Forza del Destino) and Dorabella (Così fan Tutti) at Scottish Opera; Fenena (Nabucco), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Mercedes and the title role of Carmen at Welsh National Opera; Mercedès and Rosina (The Barber of Seville) with Opera North; and Dorabella and Suzuki (Madam Butterfly) with English National Opera.
In the course of a prominent concert and recital career, Clare Shearer has performed Mahler’s Rückert Lieder and Brahms Opus 91 songs with Scottish Ballet, and given concerts in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh and London’s Wigmore Hall. Other notable performances include Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Verdi’s Requiem for the Montreaux Festival, Geneva, Le Sentier and Dubai.
Her recordings include Sir Edward Elgar’s Crown of India with Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos.