Canadian soprano Layla Claire began the 2023/2024 with a world premiere at Hamburg Staatsoper as ‘Venere’ in Salvatore Sciarrino’s Venere e Adone. Along with championing new works, she is known primarily as a Mozart and Handel soprano, and is now adding roles in the jugendlich dramatischer soprano fach.

Highlights of past seasons include ‘Donna Elvira’ (Don Giovanni) at the Salzburg Festspiele, Zurich Opera and Staatsoper Munich, ‘Donna Anna’ (Don Giovanni) at Glyndebourne, ‘Alcina’ with the Staatsoper Hamburg and Karlsruhe Handel Festival, ‘Sandrina’ (La Finta Giardiniera) and ‘Helena’ (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and ‘The Governess’ (Turn of the Screw) at Zurich Opera.

Layla Claire was a member of the Lindemann Young Artist’s Program at the Metropolitan Opera making her debut there as ‘Tebaldo’ (Don Carlo) under Yannick Nezet-Seguin. She has since returned to the Met stage in several guest appearances including the creation of the role of ‘Helena’ in the Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island under William Christie (available on Erato Classics DVD) and as ‘Anne Trulove’ in The Rake’s Progress with James Levine.

A celebrated concert singer, Layla Claire has made guest appearances with the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Hamburg Staatsorchester, the Orchestre de Montréal, Orchestre Metropolitan, Boston Baroque and the Bamberg Symphony. She completed her studies at L’Université of Montréal and the Curtis Institute of Music.