|
The American-born mezzo-soprano, Rebecca Claborn, completed a double Bachelor's degree in voice performance and music education at the University of New Hampshire, and subsequently moved to Canada to receive her Master of Music in voice performance from the University of Alberta, as a student of soprano Jolaine Kerley. Further studies were undertaken at the Victoria Conservatory of Music as a student of acclaimed soprano Nancy Argenta, and at the University of Toronto as a student of countertenor Daniel Taylor. Rebecca is a two-time participant in the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and the Victoria Conservatory Advanced Oratorio Course, and a participant in the prestigious Franz-Schubert-Institut Master Course in Baden-bei-Wien, Austria. In master-classes, she has worked with such outstanding musicians as Emma Kirkby, Ann Monoyios, Julius Drake, Elly Ameling, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Laurence Cummings, Benjamin Butterfield, Adrian Butterfield, Wolfgang Holzmair, and Peter Harvey. She is the 2009 winner of the Alberta Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition.
Praised for her “mellifluous yet clear” singing [James Young, Music in Victoria], Rebecca Claborn has performed with some of Canada’s finest classical ensembles. With a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present day, Rebecca has a particular passion for early music.
As a soloist, Rebecca Claborn has appeared with with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Ottawa Bach Choir (Director: Lisette Canton), Richard Eaton Singers, Spiritus Ensemble (Director: Kenneth Hull), Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Victoria Baroque Players, Choir of St. James Cathedral, Talisker Players, and Theatre of Early Music (Director: Daniel Taylor), among others. Her solo highlights include George Frideric Handel's Israel in Egypt with the Richard Eaton Singers, G.F. Handel's Dixit Dominus and J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 182 with the Ottawa Bach Choir, Ottorino Respighi's Lauda per la Natività del Signore with the Victoria Choral Society, J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 150, Cantata BWV 184, and Psalm 51 BWV 1083 with the Victoria Baroque Players, Bertali’s Lamento della Regina d’Inghilterra with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, G.F. Handel's Messiah with the Choir of St. James Cathedral, and Johann Kuhnau's Gott, sei mir gnädig nach deiner Güte with the Theatre of Early Music. She also frequently performs as a chorister with a variety of professional choirs, and has sung with Pro Coro Canada, the Choir of St. James Cathedral, the Theatre of Early Music, Cappella Nova Mundi, The Tallis Scholars (Director: Peter Phillips), and the Gabrieli Consort (Director: Paul McCreesh).
In the upcoming season, Rebecca can be heard in November and December performing with the Toronto Chamber Choir, under the direction of conductor and lutenist Lucas Harris, and in November with the Ottawa Bach Choir under the direction of Lisette Canton, in their performance of J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor (BWV 232).
As a recording artist for Analekta Records, Rebecca Claborn appears as a soloist on the Juno-nominated album "The Heart’s Refuge", with the Theatre of Early Music and the Schola Cantorum, Toronto, released in 2014. She also appears on the recently released (September 2015) album "The Vale of Tears", also with the Theatre of Early Music and Schola Cantorum, Toronto. A forthcoming recording of music by Heinrich Schütz will be released on Analekta later this year.
When she is not singing classical music, Rebecca Claborn enjoys dabbling in folk music, and is a recent beginner on the clawhammer banjo, carrying on her family’s love of Appalachian traditional music. She lives with her husband in Toronto. |
