Staley Clark, soprano, is a graduate from the University of Tennessee Knoxville where she obtained an Artist Certificate in Vocal Performance alongside a dual Certification in Vocal Pedagogy and where she also completed her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. During her time at UTK, Ms. Clark has performed many stage roles including Chochokla and Mrs. Paskova in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen, Amelia in Menotti's Amelia al ballo, Mère Marie in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Madame de la Halitére in Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon, Baba in Gian-Carlo Menotti's The Medium, La Zia Principessa in Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica, Hänsel in Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and Praskovia in Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow. In the fall of 2024, Ms. Clark performed as Mercédès in a scene from Carmen during Knoxville Opera’s tribute concert in honor of Maestro Robert Lyall. Ms. Clark has also remained active as a Knoxville Opera Studio Artist where she has performed in several of Knoxville Opera's productions. From 2022-2025, Ms. Clark performed in productions of Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow, Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, and Giacomo Puccini's La bohème. Ms. Clark also performed for Knoxville Opera's Youth Audiences Tour as part of their educational outreach program. During the summer of 2025, Ms. Clark began transitioning from mezzo-soprano to soprano.

In addition to these stage performances, Ms. Clark was granted the opportunity to attend several young artist programs that afforded her the abililty to strengthen her musicality, artistry, and stagecraft skills. This summer, Ms. Clark was a young artist for the Janiec Opera Company during the 2025 season of the Brevard Music Center's Summer Insitiute. She performed in the season's productions of Gaetano Donizetti's L'elisir damore as an ensemble member, Third Lady from W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute, and as a soloist in the Janiec Opera Company's An Evening of Operetta. While there, Ms. Clark was also selected to participate in the New Songs Concert where she premiered a new composition by Matthew Hodge titled "Let Me Go" as part of the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute's New Songs Project. In addition to this collaboration, Ms. Clark premiered six other works in a song cycle titled The Little Black Book of Pride which featured new compositions from Jess Forgione, Matthew Hodge, Devondre Jaquish, and Yunlin Yang. During the summer of 2024, Ms. Clark was selected as one of the young artists at the year's OperaFest Sewanee season where she performed in several opera scenes as Mercédès in Carmen, Laura in Iolanta, Ursula in Béatrice et Bénédict, and Soeur Mathilde in Dialogues des Carmelites as well as in scenes from musical theatre favorites Company and Candide. In the summer of 2023, Ms. Clark was one of the youngest participants of Jennifer Rowley's Aria Bootcamp, which took place at The Sarasota Opera. 

Ms. Clark received her Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from Murray State University in 2022. Other mainstage roles performed at Murray State include Kate in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, La Messaggera in Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, and Mother in Seymour Barab’s Little Red Riding Hood. Ms. Clark has also performed several opera scenes from Carmen, H.M.S Penafore, and Le nozze di Figaro, along with The Paducah Symphony Orchestra and Murray State University Concert Choir.

Headshot by Ryan Read, courtesy of Knoxville Opera