Born in Texas and educated at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and at the San Francisco Opera Center, Laura Claycomb excels in adventurous repertoire, ranging from baroque music and bel canto masterpieces to contemporary compositions, her delicacy, refinement and theatricality making her one of the foremost lyric coloraturas of her generation. She made her European debut at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 1994 as Giulietta in Bellini’sICapuleti e i Montecchi. In 1997 she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Amanda in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre under Esa-Pekka Salonen, and in 1998 at Teatro alla Scala, singing the title role in Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix. She has appeared in opera houses across the globe in a repertoire extending from the works of Handel and the heroines of Donizetti and Bellini to the role of Queen Wealtheow in the world premiere of Elliot Goldenthal’s Grendel. As a concert artist of distinction Laura Claycomb performs with conductors of international rank, such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev, Emmanuelle Haïm, Richard Hickox, Sir Roger Norrington, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas and Frans Welser-Möst. Her wide-ranging discography includes the role of Mrs Page in Vaughan Williams’s Sir John in Love for Chandos.