Claire Doran

Music of Life had been supporting Claire from 2008 to 2018.

Our commitment to children and young people like Claire is for the long-term. We want to be with them at every step of their musical journey so that they receive the support they need to realise their ambition.

Claire was born with a love and talent for music and a passion to make her musical dreams come true. She was also born on the Autistic spectrum. We’ve been able to be there for Claire thanks to support of our funders for as long as was needed.

When we first met Claire she would only sing in the shower. Through Music of Life, Claire was introduced to working in a group (the very first project she joined was Handel’s Messiah at St John’s Smith Square with the Orchestra of St John’s!) and highly demanding 1:1 music training. She has been working tirelessly, achieving merits and distinctions in all ABRSM exams she did, including Piano and Theory, in addition to her singing Diploma in Performance. Eight years on, having studied with Christine Cairns, professor at Birmingham Conservatoire and, most recently, with Jeff Stewart, professor at the Royal College of Music, Claire sings solos with choirs and orchestras and learns operatic arias in four languages. She travels to rehearsals independently and she smiles all the time!

“I have two mottos: just do it, and take every chance you get. Music of Life has both given me chances and helped me to take them and make them my own. I’ve not looked back.”

Claire released her first professional album, “The Dream”, in 2017. It’s available on Spotify and Amazon Music .

She enjoys a busy musical life combining singing with further studies and inspiring other young people to live their musical dreams.