Kristin Clark
Associate Professor, Music, Performing Arts Department Chair
Kristin Clark, mezzo-soprano, has been lauded for her “technical prowess” and “approachability” (classical.net). She can be heard in the role of Electre on the 2015 GRAMMY nominated recording of Milhaud’s L'Orestie d'Eschyle, for which Opera News described her voice as “slicing the air unassailably.” In 2015, Dr. Clark made her solo debut in Carnegie Hall, singing Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Blue Period Ensemble. She returns to Carnegie Hall in the summer of 2024 to sing Duruflé’s Requiem with Manhattan Concert Productions. Particularly at home on the concert stage, Dr. Clark has appeared as a guest soloist with organizations such as the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony, the Bozeman Symphony, the Oakland Choral Society, the University Musical Society, the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra, and the Adrian Symphony. Other notable concert appearances include the world premiere of Susan Botti’s Tagore Madrigals at the American Academy in Rome and a Canadian Tour of Aaron Copland’s In the Beginning. Frequently performed works include Handel’s Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Requiem, and Beethoven’s Mass in C.
Opera audiences have seen Dr. Clark on stage with Michigan Opera Theatre, Arbor Opera Theatre, The Metropolitan Baroque Ensemble, the University of Michigan Opera Theatre, and the Blue Lake Summer Arts Festival. Favorite performances include the role of Dritte Magd in Elektra with Christine Goerke and the title roles in Dido and Aeneas, Hansel and Gretel, and Gluck’s Armide. Dr. Clark's other operatic roles include Vlasta in The Passenger, Jo in Little Women, the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, Ruth in Pirates of Penzance. Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mercedes in Carmen, Madama Rose in Il Campanello, and Florence Pike in Albert Herring.
Dr. Clark completed her Doctorate in vocal performance at the University of Michigan, where she also received Master’s degrees in vocal performance and choral conducting and an undergraduate degree in music education. As a graduate student in conducting, she led the University’s Orpheus Singers and Residential College choirs, and she received the honor of conducting in master class with Helmuth Rilling. As a graduate student vocalist, Dr. Clark made solo appearances with every major choral and orchestral ensemble on campus, performed in recital with Martin Katz, and was selected to sing in master classes with Jessye Norman, Ann Baltz, and David Daniels. Dr. Clark also performed as a cover to Jessye Norman in a workshop of Laura Karpman’s Ask Your Mama. As an alum, she has returned to her alma mater to perform works by De Falla and Gubaidulina with the University Symphony Orchestra and Band.
Dr. Clark is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Adrian College. She has previously held positions teaching voice for the University of Michigan musical theatre program and at Concordia University. In the summer, she has taught on the voice faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, MPulse Vocal Arts Institute and Musical Theatre Workshops, and the Interlochen Adult Choir Camp. Graduates of Dr. Clark’s studio have gone on to perform leading and supporting roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in national tours, to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance, and to teach music in elementary, secondary, and collegiate classrooms.
