The life of an operatic soloist can provide amazing international performance opportunities and Blair voice professor Hailey Clark recently enjoyed one of those experiences as she traveled to Ankara, Turkey, to perform with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1993 as an original art project, the orchestra is Turkey’s first private and academic ensemble. Composed of distinguished artists who are also members of the Bilkent University faculty, the orchestra performs around 50 concerts each year and has recorded more than 40 albums.
“I was able to debut the beautiful ‘Vier Letzte Lieder’ or ‘Four Last Songs,’ orchestrated for soprano and orchestra by Richard Strauss,” said Clark. “German conductor and composer Christian Schumann, with whom I loved collaborating for the first time, conducted.”
Composed in 1948 when Strauss was 84, the program represented “bucket list” repertoire for Clark, who explains “the pieces are Richard Strauss’ final compositions, featuring themes of death and ‘final sleep,’ and displaying his affinity for writing grand, high-flying sweeping lines for the solo soprano voice.”
Hailey Clark will bring a more intimate chamber version of “Four Last Songs” to Blair School of Music in her upcoming Master Series faculty recital, February 15, 2025 (tickets available now). The program will feature Carolyn Huebl (violin), Felix Wang (cello), and Soyeon Kim (piano), in a setting that Clark says “will allow us to find even more nuance, colors, and textures.”
While in Ankara, Clark also worked with students at of the Voice Department at the Bilkent University Conservatory on interpreting art song and arias through vocal technique, staging, and dramatic coaching and interpretation. She was hosted by Jennifer Tipton, who leads the department.
Hailey Clark joined the faculty of Blair School of Music as assistant professor of voice in 2024. She holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland School of Music. She is also a proud alumna of the Freie Universität Berlin’s FU-Best program in Germany.
