CYNTHIA CLAYTON

American soprano Cynthia Clayton is well known throughout the United States and overseas for her critically acclaimed performances of leading 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 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, and Opera Grand Rapids, among many others. Her concert performances have included 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, Brahms' German Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Debussy's La Damoiselle Élue, in performances with the Houston Symphony, San Jose Symphony, and numerous regional choruses, symphonies and festivals.

Most recently with Houston Grand Opera, Ms. Clayton appeared as the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, Madame Larina in Eugene Onegin, and created three featured roles in Houston Grand Opera’s world-premiere production of Marian’s Song, an homage to the great Marian Anderson, by Damien Sneed and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, former poet laureate of Houston. In 2017, Ms. Clayton produced a recording of vocal works entitled Encantamiento - Music of Daniel Catán, available on Albany Records. In 2024, she debuted an innovative interview project entitled SINGING PRAXIS, available without cost at www.singingpraxis.com. A member of the faculty at the Moores School of Music at UH since 2005, she is currently a C.W. Moores Endowed Professor and serves as head of the Voice Area and Associate Director for Faculty Success for the Moores School of Music.

Education

MM Vocal Performance - University of Southern California - 1989 BA Music - University of California, Los Angeles - 1987