Claire Forstman

Biography

Claire Forstman is a sought-after pianist and vocal coach currently based in Portland, Oregon. In her second season as a Resident Artist with Portland Opera, she will be the principal pianist for the company’s production of Falstaff, play orchestral keyboards for Paul Moravec’s The Shining, and lead the studio’s scenes program and aria showcase as Music Director.

Last season, she was the principal pianist and orchestral keyboardist for Puccini: In Concert, offstage conductor The Snowy Day, and second pianist for the cabaret concert Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare & Song and the company’s production of The Marriage of Figaro.

In the upcoming season, she will be music directing operas for Renegade Opera and Portland State University, and her recent and upcoming collaborators include Vashon Opera, the Oregon Bach Festival, OrpheusPDX, Portland’s Opera on Tap, Opera in the Park, the Portland Symphonic Chorus, and Opera Bend.

Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, she was a member of the Florentine Opera studio for two years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has also worked for Finger Lakes Opera, Chicago Summer Opera, dell’Arte Opera Ensemble (NYC), Sarah Lawrence College, Opera Steamboat (Steamboat Springs, Colorado), and the Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy. Claire also works as a dance accompanist for the Oregon Ballet Theatre School and BodyVox dance company. She earned her M.M. in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a B.M. in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music.