Claire Pendleton - Soprano
Claire Pendleton studied at UCL/Birkbeck College, where she received distinction in Opera Performance and was awarded an Ottakar Kraus Memorial Scholarship. She then gained a Postgraduate Diploma at Trinity College of Music, studying with Wendy Eathorne & Geoffrey Pratley; winning several scholarships including the Ricordi Opera Prize and Beatrice Taylor Memorial Scholarship.
Whilst at college Claire sang as Madame Lidoine (Dialogue of the Carmelites), at Spitalfields Opera conducted by Andrea Quinn and received critical acclaim for the British fully staged premiere, in the title role of Barber’s Vanessa, at the Bloomsbury Theatre conducted by Gregory Rose.
Since leaving college, operatic roles have included Tetka cover (Jenufa) and Giulia cover (Gondoliers), Lakme soprano (On the Town), Vendor & Young Woman (Kismet) for English National Opera, Mimi & Musetta (La Boheme) for ENO’s Baylis Programme and Mabel & Gianetta for ENO Friends evening, Anna Bolena for Swansea City Opera, Rusalka for ‘I Maestri’ and Opera Box, First Lady (Magic Flute), for Opera Project and Opera à la Carte, Helmwige cover (Die Walküre) for Northern Wagner Orchestra, Aminta (Schweigsame Frau) for Garsington Opera Educational Project, Anna (Nabucco) at Blackheath Concert Halls, Mimi (La Boheme), Countess Almaviva (Marriage of Figaro), Michaela (Carmen) and Queen of The Night (Magic Flute). Gilbert & Sullivan roles include Yum-Yum, Rose Maybud, Celia, Gianetta and Fiametta along with Frasquita (Carmen), Madame Silberklang (Schauspieldirektor) and High Priestess (Aida).
Recently with English National Opera, Claire has sung the roles of Solo Woman in Puccini's Turandot (2010) and Old Woman in Alexander Raskatov's A Dog's Heart (2011). She also covered the roles of Mrs Naidoo in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha (2010) and Flower Maiden in Wagner's Parsifal (2011).
Claire has performed in many UK venues: Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St. John’s, Smith Square, St. Martin-In-The-Fields, Southwark Cathedral, Royal Naval Chapel and the Fairfield Halls. Her TV credits include Classical Brit Awards, BBC’s ‘Live at the London Palladium’, Children in Need, Parkinson, with Luciano Pavarotti, Songs of Praise and has sung in the House of Commons and at the HM Tower of London. She has regularly broadcast for BBC Radio and appears at many charity functions throughout the UK.
Claire has recorded the role of Blush of Morning, in Arthur Sullivan’s Rose of Persia, with the Hanover Band, which is now released on the CPO label. She has also recorded for Chandos, BBC television and BBC Music Magazine.
Claire’s work has taken her further afield; to France, Netherlands, Italy and South Africa. She sang under the baton of Richard Hickox, at the 2000 Spoleto Opera Festival in Umbria, in Strauss’, Der Rosenkavalier, Honeggar, Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, Rachmaninov Vespers and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung. Whilst there, she sang at Gian Carlo Menotti’s 90th birthday celebrations. She has performed in a musical play about the life of Jenny Lind, Swedish Nightingale for Dorset Opera accompanied by Chris Squires from Hamburg Opera.
Claire’s oratorio experience includes Handel’s Messiah, most notably in the presence of HRH Princess Royal, at Greenwich Naval Chapel, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with Bardi Orchestra in Leicester and with the Oxford Philomusica, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, with the Wolsey Orchestra, Bach Cantata 124, at Guildford Cathedral, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the West Sussex Philarmonic, Mozart’s Requiem with Oxford Philomusica at Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford, Haydn’s Creation, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Faure’s Requiem, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and recently Bach Mass in B Minor at St John’s Smith Square with the Brooke Street Band, under Joseph Cullen. In 2011 Claire was the soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the University of Plymouth Choral Society and in Mendelssohn's Hymn of Priase with Tiptree Choral Society.
Claire studies with the distinguished soprano Marie McLaughlin and is a member of English National Opera. In summer 2011, Claire will sing the role of Suburban Mum in Nico Muhly's opera Two Boys with English National Opera.