Opal Clyburn-Miller is an active chamber singer and soloist in the Washington D.C. area, with special interests in collaborative performances and personal expression. Notable ensemble engagements have included: participant in the Aspen Music Festival’s Professional Choral Institute with Seraphic Fire, chorus member in the Washington National Opera’s production of Il Trovatore, and Vocal Fellow with The Thirteen. In 2022, they performed in Opera Lafayette’s chorus on a Baroque double bill of Rameau’s Io and Pierre de la Garde’s Léandre et Héro, a modern premiere. In addition, they’ve had a strong relationship with many churches in the area such as the Washington National Cathedral (Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Poulenc’s Sept Répons de Ténèbres), St John’s, Lafayette Square (Victoria’s Requiem à 6, Hubert Parry’s Songs of Farewell) and Emmanuel Episcopal Church (J. S. Bach’s G minor Mass, Britten’s St. Nicolas, and works of Nico Muhly with the composer present).

Mx. Clyburn-Miller specializes in oratorio and in Baroque literature. In the summer of 2023 they attended Bach Akademie Charlotte (BWV 36, 62, 132), and the American Bach Soloists Academy (BWV 78, 198, 243). In concert, they performed the tenor solos in Handel’s Messiah (Handel Choir of Baltimore), Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb (Baltimore Choral Arts Society), and J. S. Bach’s B Minor Mass. In opera, they’ve played Damon (Acis and Galatea), Tamino (The Magic Flute), and Tom Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress). And they are very much looking forward to the role of Cornelia in the modern premiere of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Il Trionfo dell’Onore with Amherst Early Opera in the summer of 2024.

Further, Opal is interested in the history and development of American classical music. In 2021, they gave a lecture recital surveying recent Black American contributions to art song literature. They were featured on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s (UMBC) Livewire concert series, a three-day new music festival, and performed Olly Wilson’s Sometimes for tenor and tape. Continuing the partnership with UMBC, Opal premiered Daniel Pesca’s Feldman Sonnets for tenor and guitar in 2023.

They are currently preparing a recital focused on their first experiences in art song. The works of Samuel Barber and Margaret Bonds form the pillars of the program while George Crumb, George Walker and Noël da Costa also featured.

Opal is pursuing their master’s at Peabody Conservatory, and studies with American soprano Tony Arnold