Winner of the 'Premio de Música María Orán' (Tenerife, 2019), mezzo- soprano Lara-Clare Bourdeaux is based in the Canary Islands where she performs regularly as a recitalist, in concerts and masterclasses, as well as on the opera stage. She sings as a chorus member and soloist in the Ópera de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; recent highlights including singing the role of Un Musico in Puccini´s Manon Lescaut and Second Woman for the International Bach Festival production of Dido and Aeneas. In 2019 she was also awarded Audience Prize and Second Prize in the Concurso Internacional de Música Lírica Villa de Teror, Gran Canaria.
Lara- Clare's chorus work includes regular performances as a member of the Intermezzo chorus of Tenerife and most recently Verdi's Aida at Opera Oviedo. Her experience includes Verdi Don Carlos, La Forza del Destino and Macbeth, Puccini Tosca, Turandot and La Bohème, Donizetti L'Elisir d'amore, Bellini Norma, and Bizet Carmen within the Ópera de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria seasons at the Teatro Pérez Galdós and the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium. Other chorus work has included the zarzuela Luisa Fernanda (Moreno Torroba) with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon and Verdi La Traviata with Ópera Fuerteventura. Previous solos with the Ópera de Las Palmas have included Apparizione III (Macbeth) and Un Pastor (Tosca).
On the concert stage, recent solo work has included two performances of Haydn´s Missa Brevis in F with Coral Canto de Alisios, Gran Canaria, a recital at the Real Casino Tenerife and another as part of the “Caprichos Musicales” festival in Garachico, Tenerife, as well as a harp and voice English folk song recital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Previous solo oratorio work includes the Vivaldi Gloria and Mozart Laudate Dominum with Adoramus ensemble in Lyndhurst, Dvořák Requiem, Gounod St Cecilia Mass; Schubert Mirjams Siegesgesang, Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Handel Messiah in Oxford, and Wales.
Lara trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, completing her postgraduate studies in 2015. Her professional choral training started long before that, however, at the age of 8 as a chorister in the Exeter Cathedral Girls' choir. She went on to gain music scholarships at school and subsequently at the University of Manchester where she won a bursary for singing tuition at the Royal Northern College of Music. She gained an Honours degree in French and Spanish before training in vocal performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Her wide- ranging choral experience includes singing as a bursary member of the BBC National Chorus of Wales during her time in Cardiff.
After having children of her own, Lara co- founded the music tuition program Mini Maestros, providing engaging English language music sessions for babies and toddlers in Gran Canaria. Lara currently combines her work with the very smallest people with regular performances as a soloist and is a member of the Intermezzo Chorus agency.
Also available to sing at events, Weddings, Baptisms and Funerals