Voice Lessons

Claire Pellegrini Cloud

Claire Pellegrini Cloud has been a private voice teacher for over 20 years, mostly at Lagond Music School.  Her formal music education consisted of Dalcroze technique, Kyriena Siloti (private Russian piano teacher, ear training and music theory; daughter of Alexander Siloti & Tchaikovsky’s goddaughter; protégé of Nadia Boulanger), The Dalton School (chorus and madrigal group), Harvard College (The Radcliffe Choral Society & Madrigal Group) and Harvard College classes with greats like Luise Vosgerchian.  She was Chairman of the Board of Diller Quaile Music School in NYC from 1990-93. 

Claire’s on-the-job music training consisted of co-leading club date bands, Cloudburst Music, with her husband and partner, Rusty Cloud (pianist / educator / singer / songwriter / bandleader), and writing, producing and recording original songs in various studios, as well as singing with vocal icons like Jerry Lawson, lead singer of the a cappella group, the Persuasions, and members of the Original Blues Brothers Band in various countries abroad.

Claire’s vocal and performance coaching techniques are style-agnostic.  She believes the principles of good singing (breath control, range extension, smoothing out passaggi (vocal register breaks), building vocal strength using the vocal tool kit, etc.) can be taught through any music genre.  Each voice lesson includes a vocal warm-up customized to the vocal range and ability of the student, and detail work on at least 2 songs of the singer’s choice.  Student goals are established early in the process and worked on until the student has achieved the desired outcome whether it be a solid vocal performance or admission to a singing program in the music college of their choice.  Claire also coaches students on performance strategies, creating attention-grabbing set lists of songs, and supportive psychology to enhance “killer” stage presence.  She incorporates ear training and music theory into her voice lessons to enhance the overall musicianship of her students.

Samples of Claire’s original music and singing can be found on the Cloudburst Music website:  www.cloudmusic.com, or on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming platforms.

Education:

The Dalton School, NYC
Harvard College, AB ‘79
Harvard Business School, MBA ‘85
School of Hard Knocks, NYC