About Clara
Clara Reeves, lyric soprano from Greenville, North Carolina, is praised for her “outstanding technical abilities and enveloping warm tone.” She is a passionate artist devoted to powerful storytelling and emotional authenticity, bringing depth and nuance to each character she portrays. Clara is particularly drawn to the classic lyric heroines of opera, striving to make their stories resonate deeply with modern audiences. She is equally enthusiastic about new music, especially works by women composers.
Clara will begin the Artist Diploma program Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she recently obtained Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree. As a three-time Corbett Competition winner, she received the Seybold Russell Award in 2025 and 2024, and the Richard I. Lauf Award in 2023.
This season, Clara will perform the title role in Cendrillon with CCM Opera, conducted by Mark Gibson. Last season, she appeared as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream under the baton of William Langley. During the summer, she returned to Wolf Trap Opera as a Studio Artist, covering Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, and sang ensemble in both productions. In the Studio Spotlight Program, she performed scenes as Rodelinda (Rodelinda) and Rosina (The Ghosts of Versailles).
In the previous summer, she covered Mimì in La bohème at Wolf Trap Opera, and performed scenes as Euridice in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, Krysia in Two Remain by Jake Heggie, and ensemble in La bohème and Così fan tutte.
Previously, Ms. Reeves attended Songfest as a Brown Loranger Fellow in 2023 and a Schubert Fellow in 2019. At Songfest in 2023, she sang in a seminar for Libby Larsen and performed selections from Larsen’s Sonnets from the Portuguese in a recital by American Composers. She also sang a recital of Clara Schumann’s Sechs Lieder with Javier Arrebola.
Other roles include Morgana in Alcina with Chicago Summer Opera, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with CCM Opera D’arte, and Speranza in L’Orfeo with CCM Opera D’arte.
In 2022, Ms. Reeves debuted Michael Spiroff’s Crépuscule rustique in its world premiere with Songe d’été en Musique in Quebec, Canada. Later, in 2023, she sang in the American debut of the chamber work with the Long Island Guitar Festival.
Her previous awards and honors include the Bonnie Bell Encouragement Award from the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, an honorable mention in the 2023 Hal Leonard Art Song Competition, and being a semi-finalist in the 2023 Shreveport Opera Mary J. Smith Singer of the Year Competition. She received valuable support for her artistry through the Alumni Summer Grant from Schmidt Vocal Arts. Clara's achievements also include second-place prizes in both the 2020 Matinée Musicale Competition and the 2019 CCM Undergraduate Competition.
