CLAIRE PREWER

"Soprano Prewer has an amazing voice that belies her small frame.Stupendous" - Ross Crawford.]


(C.B.S.O. Centre July 2001 - `A Midsummer Night at the Opera')

Born in 1970, Claire was born into a musical family and has been singing since a very early age, her first recording session taking place in a professional London studio when she was five years old.  Claire won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied for five years; four on the A.G.S.M. performer's course studying with Margaret Lensky and Johanna Peters and a further year on the Guildhall's Opera Course studying with Dr. Elizabeth Vaughan where she performed in extracts from 'The Rape of Lucretia' (Britten), 'War and Peace' (Prokofiev), 'Dialogues of the Carmelites' (Poulenc) and a performance of the last Act of 'Don Giovanni' at St. James' church, Piccadilly in which she played Donna Elvira opposite Ben Luxon as 'the Don'. 

As well as winning the Freda Parry Scholarship prize and a prize in the Guildhall's Mirsky competition, Claire also won a competition to sing the soprano solo in Handel's 'Messiah' with Bramwell Tovey conducting.  She has also appeared in master classes with Elizabeth Soderström and Graham Johnson.

Aside from her classical commitments, Claire performs in such diverse fields as musicals, (Squeak - Queens Theatre, Out of this World - London), cabaret (The Royal Albert Hall, The Talk of East Anglia, Ryde Theatre - Isle of Wight) and regular session and recording work.   She has also performed aboard Cunard's 'Caronia' with the Stella Ensemble and has recently performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's 'Berkley Ensemble' at the C.B.S.O. Centre in Birmingham.  She  has also recently performed David Fanshawe's African Sanctus in Worcester Cathedral with the Worcester Festival Chorus.

Alongside her singing career, Claire is increasingly becoming involved in additional aspects of music, which include studio session work, arranging (her work spanning from ten piece bands to virtuosic classical encores) and most recently, record production.  She is currently producing the debut album of the Innovation Chamber Ensemble, a new group comprised of the principal players from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Claire also enjoys teaching singing, violin and piano and has also written a series of children's educational theory books.

Future engagements include Dr. Andrew Gant's 'the vision of Piers Plowman' at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, performing with the CBSO's Berkley Salon at the CBSO Centre, Pierrot Lunaire in the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton and also a tour of the Bahamas.  A series of performances are scheduled later this year for Menotti's 'Amahl and the night visitors'.

Claire and her husband, `cellist Richard Jenkinson, met whilst studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and now live in Worcester with their eight-year old son who is a chorister at Worcester Cathedral.  

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