Hailey Clark, a U.S. soprano acclaimed by Opera News for her "warm" and "effortless" lyric soprano and known for her dynamic interpretations, quickly made a name for herself in Europe and North America. She was awarded the Austrian Music Theater Prize in the category of "Best Female Lead" for her portrayal of Alma Beers in Brokeback Mountain (2016) in her European debut at the Salzburg Landestheater.
In 2019, Hailey Clark joined the ensemble of the Hanover State Opera, where she has taken on leading roles in the repertoire with great success. She made her debut in Lydia Steier's new production of La Juive by Halévy, with Opernwelt calling her "stunning" and Das Opernglas praising her "big, beautifully led soprano." She then made her debut in the title role of Alcina, about which the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: "[Clark] floods the hall with voice and presence; she is a diva the likes of which Hannover has not had for some time." In the 2020/21 season, she sang the roles of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Micaëla in a new production of Carmen, and received rave reviews as the soprano soloist in the MYTHOS orchestra concert with artist Tal Rosner and Sibelius' Op. 3 and Op. 70 Luonnotar. Other roles in her repertoire at the Hanover State Opera included Musetta, First Lady, and the soprano soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
Hailey Clark is currently on maternity leave (2021/22) and recently made an unexpected return to the stage as Alma Beers in the premiere of Brokeback Mountain at Stadttheater Giessen, where she was acclaimed by audiences and press. In the 2022/23 season, Hailey Clark returns to Central City Opera where she will debut as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, makes her Dresden Philharmonic debut in Wagner's Ring cycle as Gerhilde in Die Walküre, and returns to the Staatsoper Hannover as Rachel in La Juive.
In the 2018/19 season, she made her debut with Palm Beach Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and with Austin Opera as Anna Sørensen in Kevin Puts' Silent Night. She also returned to the Salzburg Landestheater as Fiordiligi. Her concert stage debuts included the inaugural tour with the Columbia Bel Canto Trio, performances with the Santa Fe Symphony (Messiah), the Music in the Alps Festival (Carmina Burana), and debuts at the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Konzerthaus Dortmund in Elektra with the Hessischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
At Theater Basel in 2017/18, she appeared as Lucio Cinna (Lucio Silla), as the 5th Maid (Elektra), and as Anne Trulove (The Rakeʼs Progress). As Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) she appeared at the Salzburg Landestheater, at the Stuttgart Opera as well as at the Central City Opera in Colorado. As Micaëla (Carmen) she made a guest appearance at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami.
Hailey Clark is a two-time regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions, was a finalist in the 2015 "Competizione dellʼOpera" competition (Linz, Austria), and a Santa Fe Opera scholarship recipient ("Award for Outstanding Apprentice"). Hailey Clark also won the Heafner-Williams Competition in 2014, is a laureate of the "Opera Guild of Charlotte Competition" and the "Shreveport Singer of the Year Competition". A winner of the "Charles Lynam Vocal Competition," she made a five-city concert tour of China and Inner Mongolia in 2009.
Clark holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music and received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland School of Music. Likewise, she is a successful graduate of the FU-Best program at Freie Universität Berlin.
