CYNTHIA CLAYTON

Cynthia Clayton (Voice, Director of Undergraduate Studies), soprano, is an audience favorite in opera houses throughout the United States and overseas for her critically acclaimed performances of roles including Puccini heroines Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Mimi, Musetta, Liù, and Madama Butterfly; Mozart heroines Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Pamina, Countess Almaviva, and Fiordiligi; and numerous others, such as Leonora in Il Trovatore, Nedda in Pagliacci, Violetta in La Traviata, Micaela in Carmen, Marguerite in Faust, Janáček's Jenůfa, Floyd's Susannah, and Catán's Florencia (Florencia en el Amazonas). She has bowed in leading roles at New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, San Diego Opera, Utah Opera, Cleveland Opera, Opéra en Plein Air (Belgium), Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Grand Rapids, Anchorage Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Delaware, Arizona Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Knoxville Opera, Orlando Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theater, Opera Santa Barbara, Intermountain Opera, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, and Opera San José, where she was a Principal Artist in Residence for four seasons. Ms. Clayton's concert performances have included appearances with orchestras across the country, in Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Verdi's Requiem, Mahler's Second Symphony, Britten's War Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Mozart's Requiem and Solemn Vespers, Brahms' Requiem, Poulenc's Gloria, and Debussy's La Damoiselle Élue. In addition, she is an avid performer of recitals and chamber music, including, most recently, Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire and a collection of Brahms Lieder. She has been a member of the faculty at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston since 2005, and has earned the rank of Professor. She recently produced an EP of Catán's music, issued on the Albany label in late 2017.