Biographical Sketch

With a voice that has been described as “pure, lovely, vibrant, truthful, and lustrous,” Claire Vangelisti has found success on both national and international stages, singing repertoire from Bach to Berg.  In the operatic arena, Vangelisti has performed with Austin Opera, Lyric Opera of San Antonio, Southwest Opera, Louisiana Opera, and has sung the roles of The Governess in The Turn of the Screw, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Gianetta in L'Elisir d'amore, Gilda in Rigoletto, Sadie in Slow Dusk, Mimì in La bohème, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and1st Lady in Die Zauberflöte.  Vangelisti has also performed concert versions/partial roles of Violetta in La traviata, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Musetta in La bohème, Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice, Markenka in The Bartered Bride, Cunegunda in Candide, to name a few.  Vangelisti’s stage versatility has also led her to perform several operetta roles.  Highlights include Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. Vangelisti’s Mabel won a B. Iden Payne Award for “Best Actress in a Musical” as well as a nomination for “Best Actress in a Musical,” Austin Critics Table Award.  Vangelisti has also ventured into the Classical Musical Theater genre, singing the roles of Marsinah in Kismet, Marian Paroo in The Music Man, and the partial role of Carrie in Carousel.  

Vangelisti has been engaged extensively as a concert soloist in works such as Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor, Requiem, Solemn Vespers, Mass in C Major, and Regina Coeli K. 108, as well as Handel's Judas Maccabaeus and Messiah, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Missa in tempori belli, Honegger’s King David, Charpentier’s Te Deum, Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G Major, Bach’s Magnificat, Mass in B Minor, and St. Mark Passion, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Monteverdi’s Vespro Della Beata Vergine, Jommelli’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Vaughan Williams’s Hodie, Fauré’s Requiem, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.  Vangelisti has performed in concert with The Round Top Festival Institute, Texas Chamber Consort, Austin Civic Chorus and Orchestra, Temple Civic Chorus, Temple Symphony Orchestra, Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, Austin Summer Choral Symposium, San Gabriel Chorale and Orchestra, Capital City Men's Chorus, Austin Symphonic Band, Monroe Symphony, Central Louisiana Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra, and the Austin Chamber Ensemble.  

Vangelisti has received many honors and awards in recognition for excellence in teaching, as well as in performing.  In 2005 and 2006, Vangelisti was nominated and listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.  In 2007, Vangelisti received an Outstanding Alumni Award from her undergraduate alma mater Central Washington University, honored for her career achievements post-graduation.  In 2012, Vangelisti received a Foundation Award for Excellence in Creative/Artistic Activity from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. 

For the last ten years, Vangelisti has held several leadership positions in professional organizations.  From 2004-2008, Vangelisti served as President of the Board of Directors of the Austin Chamber Ensemble.  She is still currently serving on the Board of Directors.  Vangelisti is also currently on the Board of Directors of Ecoutez Press.  From 2009 to 2010, she served as Secretary, Treasurer, and Historian of the Northern Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.  From 2012-2014, she served as Vice-President/President Elect of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and subsequently Chapter President, from 2014-2016. Vangelisti is currently serving in the appointed position of Louisiana District Governor for the same organization. 

Vangelisti has been invited to teach as guest faculty at several institutions including I Curso Internacional de Música Vocal in Aveiro, Portugal, the Universidád de Aveiro, Portugal, the University of Houston, Texas State University, and the University of Miami at Coral Gables.  She is in demand as both a competition and master class clinician, serving in this capacity at the Music Teachers National Association, Southern Region, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Mississippi District NATSAA competition, the Texas District and State Solo and Ensemble Contest, the Texas Music Educators Association District and Area All-State Choir Auditions, the Louisiana Music Educators Association District and Area All-State Choir Auditions, the University of Houston, Louisiana State University, Grand Valley State University, Stephen F. Austin University, Bossier Parish Community College, Texas State University, and the University of Texas at Tyler, to name a few. 

Vangelisti holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.  She was an active member of the voice faculty at Southwestern University from 1996-2007, and she is currently Professor of Music, Interim Associate Director of Visual and Performing Arts, and  Voice Area Coordinator at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Licensure & Certification

Research Interests

Vangelisti is an avid champion of the music of living composers, and performed the World Premiere of Letting Go, a song cycle by composer Daron Hagen, in the Fall of 2002.  She has also personally collaborated and coached with artists such as Libby Larsen, John Harbison, Daron Hagen, Lowell Liebermann, William Bolcom, Frank Ticheli, Stephen Paulus, Jake Hegge, and Eric Ewazen.  As a well-known educator and artist, she has presented lecture-recitals on both national and international levels at the Texoma and Southern Regional National Association of Teachers of Singing Conventions, the Canadian University Music Society’s annual convention, The International Horn Symposium, The National Opera Association Convention, the Music Teachers National Association Louisiana Chapter Convention, and at the Louisiana Music Educators Association Convention.

In in 2013, Vangelisti performed the American Premiere of two song cycles by Portuguese composer Eurico Carrapatoso: Sete Melodias em Forma de Bruma and Três Poemas Eróticas.  As an American pioneer of Carrapatoso’s music, she has continued to disperse his works for soprano and piano, and soprano, horn, and piano to the U.S. audience, performing the American Premieres of several more song cycles and works: Duas Porcelanas Musicais, Dois Poemas de Miguel Torga, Cinco Canciones Para Piano y Voz Emocionada, Música Toda Lampeira, and Eu.  Vangelisti’s reseach on Carrpatoso’s works will culminate in a sixty-four minute compact disc recording on the MSR Classics label with Trio Mélange members Dr. James Boldin, and Dr. Richard Seiler.  This CD is set to be released in Fall 2023.  Vangelisti also recorded the song cycle New Worlds for soprano, trumpet, and piano on the CD "Vibrant Colors: Brass Music of Douglas Hedwig," released in December of 2022.  

With more than three decades of experience teaching applied/studio voice, Vangelisti is currently embarking on research regarding body alignment/body strengthening techniques and the performing artist, focusing on their place in vocal pedagogy.  In the last three years, Vangelisti has compled a 200-hour (RYT200) training in Vinyasa Flow Yoga, a 300-hour (RYT300) in Vinyasa Flow Yoga, and a 20-hour training in Yoga Nidra, all certified with the Yoga Alliance, Vangelisti has begun to lead sessions for performing artists and specifically singers, regarding the uses of yoga in the voice studio, the benefits of a personal yoga practice for singers of all genres, the use of Yoga Nidra for performance preparation, focus, and for the prevention/treatment of performance anxiety, as well as the use of yogic breath techniques to calm the parasympathetic nervous system and prepare the mind for the heightened level of focus necessary for successful performing. 

Awards & Honors

July 2016 Emy-Lou Biedenharn Endowed Professor in Music.

September 2015 Nominee, Christopher Awards.

September 2012 Foundation Award for Excellence in Creative/Artistic Activity.

March 2009 Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation Grant for Professional Development.

June 2007 Outstanding Alumni Award.

May 2005 Nominated for Who's Who Among American Teachers.

May 2004 Nominated for Who's Who Among American Teachers.

October 2003 B. Iden Payne Award, Best Actress in a Musical.

Courses Taught

MSED 4001SPECIAL PROBLEMS, 8 course(s)

MSED 4053SENIOR PROJECT/RECITAL, 2 course(s)

MSED 5001VOICE PEDAGOGY, 5 course(s)

MUSC 1021VOICE, 25 course(s)

MUSC 1041VOICE, 32 course(s)

MUSC 1091Enjoyment, 2 course(s)

MUSC 2021VOICE, 24 course(s)

MUSC 2041VOICE, 29 course(s)

MUSC 2091ENGLISH DICTION FOR SINGERS, 6 course(s)

MUSC 2092ITALIAN DICTION FOR SINGERS, 6 course(s)

MUSC 2093FRENCH DICTION FOR SINGERS, 7 course(s)

MUSC 2094GERMAN DICTION FOR SINGERS, 7 course(s)

MUSC 3011Voice Class, 5 course(s)

MUSC 3012Voice Class, 2 course(s)

MUSC 3041VOICE, 31 course(s)

MUSC 3090HALF RECITAL, 15 course(s)

MUSC 4003PERFORMANCE AND ENSEMBLE, 9 course(s)

MUSC 4004HISTORY AND LITERATURE, 3 course(s)

MUSC 4007VOCAL DICTION/PED/LITERATURE, 19 course(s)

MUSC 4041VOICE, 29 course(s)

MUSC 4087VOICE PEDAGOGY, 8 course(s)

MUSC 4090FULL RECITAL, 20 course(s)

MUSC 5041VOICE, 12 course(s)

MUSC 5087Vocal Dict/Ped/Literatur, 1 course(s)

MUSC 5097Graduate Recital, 4 course(s)