About
Clare Lillig Swenson is an American lyric soprano currently based in Rome, Italy. In Rome, she performs with the association Musicopaedia, which focuses on performing lesser known art song cycles and operatic works. She recently made her debut as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel at the Narnia Festival in Italy in July 2023. There she also performed as a soloist for their gala in Amelia Italy and performed new works by up-and-coming young composers. In the US, she was a member of the world’s largest opera company, Opera On Tap, which focuses on bringing opera out of the theatre and to the people in a more relaxed atmosphere- in this case, DC’s Wonderland Ballroom Dive bar. Last year she has performed as the solo dancer and chorus in Maryland Opera’s Die Fledermaus and Bravissimo Bel Canto! and Annapolis Opera’s Lost in the Stars and Le Nozze di Figaro.
In addition to opera, Clare has a great love for Oratorio, and has had the honor to perform as the soloist for many great oratorio works with choir and orchestra. In the 2023-24 season, she performed as the Soprano Soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in D Major, and Gabriel in Haydn’s Creation.
She was the staff soprano in the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle’s Schola Cantorum as well as in the St Mary Mother of God professional polyphonic quartet, both located in Washington DC, and has a great love of liturgical music and singing. In Rome, she can often be found cantoring the Sunday mass at Santo Spirito in Sassia, a block away from Saint Peter's Basilica.
Clare is a graduate of the prestigious Maryland Opera Studio where she performed the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Arminda (cover) in La Finta Giardiniera, and Ruth Baldwin in Musto’s Later the Same Evening, as well as premiering the role of Stacy in Sunder by Alicia Heymer and Nailah Nombeko. She is also a graduate from Anderson University where she attained dual degrees in Vocal Performance and Dance. Clare is currently under the vocal tutelage of Italian tenor Alessandro Luciano.
In addition to opera, Clare has a great love for Oratorio, and has had the honor to perform as the soloist for many great oratorio works with choir and orchestra. In the 2023-24 season, she performed as the Soprano Soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in D Major, and Gabriel in Haydn’s Creation.
She was the staff soprano in the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle’s Schola Cantorum as well as in the St Mary Mother of God professional polyphonic quartet, both located in Washington DC, and has a great love of liturgical music and singing. In Rome, she can often be found cantoring the Sunday mass at Santo Spirito in Sassia, a block away from Saint Peter's Basilica.
Clare is a graduate of the prestigious Maryland Opera Studio where she performed the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Arminda (cover) in La Finta Giardiniera, and Ruth Baldwin in Musto’s Later the Same Evening, as well as premiering the role of Stacy in Sunder by Alicia Heymer and Nailah Nombeko. She is also a graduate from Anderson University where she attained dual degrees in Vocal Performance and Dance. Clare is currently under the vocal tutelage of Italian tenor Alessandro Luciano.