Sandra McClain

Dr. Sandra McClain
Ed.D. Teachers College, Columbia University
Senior Instructor/Artist-in-Residence
Graduate Studies Coordinator

Areas of Expertise:
Applied Voice
Diction for Singers
Art Song
Vocal Chamber Music

Email: smcclai2@fau.edu
Office Phone: 561.297.4065
Office: AL 235

Soprano Sandra McClain, a national winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, has appeared extensively in opera and concert throughout the eastern United States and abroad. She has performed operatic roles with such companies as Universal Opera, Pennsylvania Opera Theatre, Brooklyn Opera Society, New York Opera Ensemble, Lake George Opera, and the Long Island Opera Society. Recital appearances have included performances in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, as well as in Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Solo symphonic performances include Libby Larsen’s Mary Cassatt, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Berlioz’ song cycle Les Nuits d’Eté. She is also, along with saxophonist Carolyn Bryan, a member of The Arden Duo, which specializes in the performance and commissioning of music composed for voice and saxophone. They have performed world premieres of commissioned works by Stuart Glazer, Lori Laitman, Carolyn Jennings, Bill Schmid, and Randall Reese. As an Artist-in-Residence, she has performed in FAU faculty chamber music recitals and oratorio performances.

Dr. McClain is also a Senior Instructor and the Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Music at FAU. Her courses include graduate and undergraduate applied voice and Diction for Singers, Graduate Survey of Art Song, Vocal Chamber Music, and undergraduate and graduate research courses. In the summer of 2007, she was a resident faculty member in Chemnitz, Germany, for a program of "Music, Language and Culture of Germany" sponsored by James Madison University. Prior to joining the Florida Atlantic Music Faculty in 2006, she taught voice and related courses at James Madison University and Mary Baldwin College in Virginia. From 1990-2001 she was Professor of Music at Georgia Southern University where she was head of the Vocal/Choral Committee and taught voice, vocal pedagogy, and vocal literature. She has also taught on the voice faculties of the University of Virginia, Southern Virginia University, Teachers College (Columbia University), Queens College, Sarah Lawrence College, and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. She is in frequent demand as a master class clinician and adjudicator and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing with whom she has held state and local offices in both Georgia and Virginia. She is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key Society and is a lifetime member of Sigma Alpha Iota. Dr. McClain’s recording of American art songs entitled "Love’s Seasons" with renowned accompanist Margo Garrett is available on the Musicians Showcase Recordings label (MS1055)

A native of North Carolina, Dr. McClain received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Meredith College, a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, and the Doctor of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City.