Clare Wilkinson, described as ‘flawless… heartfelt… heavenly’ (Early Music America), ‘totally beguiling’ (Guardian), makes music with groups of different shapes and sizes – baroque orchestra, consort of viols, vocal consort, lute, piano – and loves them all.

Particularly passionate about Bach, Clare has been alto soloist in all his major works with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, highlights being Cantata 170, Vergnügte Ruh, at the Spiegelsaal Köthen and the Matthew Passion at the Thomaskirche Leipzig. Bach recordings include Welt, Gute Nacht (Gardiner), the Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, St John & St Matthew Passions (Butt), the St Mark Passion (Willens) and Trauer-Music (Parrott – Gramophone Critics’ Choice). She appears regularly at the Feinstein Ensemble’s annual Bach Weekend at King’s Place, London.

Equally at home with viols, Clare sings with The Rose Consort of Viols and Fretwork, both on stage and in the recording studio, enjoying a comprehensive survey of the repertoire, from William Byrd to Tan Dun.

Clare also enjoys stage work: for example Venere in Monteverdi’s Ballo dell’Ingrate (BBC Proms), Galatea (London Handel Festival), Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo (Ministry of Operatic Affairs) and I Fagiolini’s renowned ‘secret theatre’ project The Full Monteverdi. As a member of I Fagiolini, staged madrigal comedies and banana gags are also all in a day’s work for her.

Numerous composers have written for Clare. Works by John Joubert, Duncan Druce, and her father Stephen Wilkinson received premières at the Wigmore Hall. A CD of songs by her father, The Sunlight on the Garden, was released by Signum Records in July 2017.

In addition to the Bach disks above, Clare’s many recordings include a Telemann cantata with Florilegium, a Gramophone Award-winning Messiah (Butt), Mynstrelles with Straunge Sounds & Gramophone Award-nominated Adoramus Te (Rose Consort of Viols), and Monteverdi’s Orfeo (Parrott). The Silken Tent (Fretwork), features two songs of Byrd never recorded before. She is honoured to have been asked to record the recently rediscovered Rawsthorne cantata on this disk.
Clare runs her own small group, Courtiers of Grace, specialising in lovingly-crafted programmes which tell stories through music and readings.

Visit www.clare-wilkinson.com for more info!