It’s been 8 years since Margaret Clair happily transplanted to Iowa.  After singing professionally in the San Francisco Bay Area and Europe for many years, SouthEastern Iowa has provided many opportunities to keep her busy on stage, television, radio, and film. She is a founding member of Way Off Broadway Musical Theater, and splits her performance time between musical theater, opera, and recital.  She is a frequent guest symphony soloist and is adjunct voice professor at Iowa Wesleyan College.

She trained in San Francisco with Blanche Thebom, who was the leading Mezzo Soprano at the Metropolitan Opera for twenty-five years.

French by ancestry, the French language and culture has always felt very attractive and comfortable to Margaret. Although the program is all in French, you may feel as if you are on an exotic expedition as you hear the musical strains of Spain, the playful shepherds from the ancient Auvergne region of France, the mournful lonely flute from Persia and the quiet calm of a cloister. This program of French arias and songs features 20th Century compositions including the exotic Sheherazade by Maurice Ravel, and the exquisite and sweeping Chants D’Auvergne of Joseph Canteloube, along with relatively unknown American composer, H. David Hogan and his profound and spiritual song cycle Cinque Meditations.  The program will also include some familiar art songs of Fauré and Debussy and of course no French program would be complete without the arias of Massenet and Bizet’s Carmen.

Margaret Clair, Mezzo-Soprano

Candlelight Reading Series appearances:

10-06-2007 Musical Soiree at the Schneider Residence

10-08-2009 French Songs & Arias with Joel Brown, Piano

SongFests Fairfield appearances:

02-16-2008 Love Songs, Nostalgic, Classical & Semi-Classical

06-07-2008 Italian Songs, Arias & Duets