Higher Degree by Research Candidate, Griffith University

Claire Burrell-McDonald is a Sydney-based soprano. Specialising in sacred and consort music, she is a regular artist with the professional choirs of St James, King Street and St Mary’s Cathedral. She has also sung with Cantillation, Sydney Antiphony, Luminescence Chamber Singers, Adelaide Chamber Singers, the Concordia Ensemble and the Song Company LAB, and studied with Suzie LeBlanc through the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Canada.

She has performed widely as a soloist and ensemble member across Australia and internationally, including performances for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on the Gallipoli peninsula, a series of early opera masterclasses in Italy with Dame Emma Kirkby, and multiple interstate and international tours with Sydney Chamber Choir. She appears on recordings with the Choir of St James, King St, Cantillation, Sydney Chamber Choir and Gondwana Chorale.

In addition to an active performing schedule and teaching studio, Claire is undertaking research into historical vocal technique and performance practice as part of her PhD through the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. She is part of the ARC-funded “Shock of the old: Rediscovering the sounds of bel canto 1700–1900” Discovery Project. She also holds postgraduate degrees in Opera and Music Performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and in English Literature from the University of Sydney.