About Clara
Clara Reeves, a lyric soprano from Greenville, North Carolina, is praised for her “outstanding technical abilities and enveloping warm tone.” She is an artist dedicated to connecting with her audiences through powerful storytelling and a deep commitment to the characters she portrays. Clara is passionate about bringing to life the classic lyric heroines of opera, aiming to make their stories feel real and poignant to both herself and the audience. In addition to her love for classic opera, she is also excited about new music, particularly works by women composers.
Ms. Reeves is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she also obtained her Bachelor’s degree. She is a three-time Corbett Competition winner, securing the Seybold Russel Award in 2025 and 2024 as well as the Richard I. Lauf Award in 2023.
This season, Clara performs Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with CCM Opera under the baton of William Langley. During the summer, she returns to Wolf Trap Opera as a Studio Artist to cover Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, in which she will also sing ensemble. Last summer, she covered Mimì in La bohème with Wolf Trap Opera, and performed scenes as Euridice in Orfée et Eurydice by Gluck and 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.
