Songwriter, composer, playwright, and actor Marie-Claire Giraud was born on the island of Dominica, raised in The Bronx, NYC, and started her operatic training in Rome, Italy. The pandemic afforded the soprano, jazz artist, and musical theater singer the luxury of time to reflect, and she overcame obstacles that were blocking her creative path. With her creativity freed, Marie-Claire wrote her first musical and discovered her true voice as a soprano. With her musical finished, Marie-Claire has many more projects in the works. She is looking forward to her soprano debut and upcoming Broadway performance of the Tennessee Williams play Hello From Bertha. We had the pleasure to speak to her about her career and projects.
Marie-Claire Giraud, thank you for granting us the opportunity to speak. You were born in the Caribbean, raised in The Bronx, NYC, and started operatic training in Rome, Italy. For readers unfamiliar with your story, please tell us more about your childhood and how were you drawn to a career in music.
I was born on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean and raised in The Bronx, NYC since the age of four. Even though I was raised in The Bronx our home was a Dominican household with all the sights, sounds, and smells of the Caribbean. I was drawn to classical music from a young age and took piano at the age of eight. Although the study of piano did not hold my interest, the seed planted blossomed into a vast rainforest. Ludwig von Beethoven is my favorite composer, and Carmen being the first opera I listened to.
Please tell us more about your academic and professional training, particularly your early experiences in Italy, collaborating with other musicians, and the impact and direction this had on your career.
Once I discovered my voice I could not be deterred from becoming an opera singer, living in Rome, Italy was a dream come true because I had the philosophy that you must study from the source. I have collaborated with a few famous musicians John Harbison, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning classical composer. We wrote a four-song cycle together. I collaborated with Spragga Benz on an opera/dancehall version of Rastaman Chant. I love music and I love the creative process and I follow that path and direction.
You’ve worked with accomplished artists such as jazz pianist Marco Di Gennaro, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison. Please share your experience of working with them.
Presently, I have a three-day-a-week jazz residency at Dante’s in the West Village, NYC where Marco Di Gennaro accompanies me on piano. It is and has been a very fruitful collaboration for us both, where we have both expanded on your knowledge and library of The Great American Songbook. Working with someone as accredited, acclaimed, and awarded as John Harbison was a dream and he is one of my mentors with who I speak with frequently.
Are there any artists you’re particularly fond of who you’d like to collaborate with?
I would love to work with Gustavo Dudamel, Nathalie Stutzman, Patti Smith, Hugh Jackman, Baz Luhrman, Viola Davis, Cecilia Bartoli, Emma Thompson, Bradley Cooper, Wynton Marsalis, Ava Duvernay, Harry Styles, Idris Elba, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo del Toro.
You’ve received several accolades, and performed at notable events such as the United Nations Around the World Gala. Is there a particular event or milestone in your career you are proudest of and why?
It was after the Paris terror bomb attacks and I was asked to sing the national anthem at the Barclays center for the New York Islanders hockey game, and it was a very emotional time. There was a French woman there to sing the French national anthem and I sang our national anthem after.
The amazing outpouring of love, support, and pride that poured towards me from the audience was like a tsunami. It was an overwhelming, beautiful, and thrilling experience. I was so proud to be there and sing our nation’s song.
Looking back at your rise to success and recognition, is there anything you would have done differently?
I am a work in progress and will continue to learn and grow till the day I die but I would add that would tell my younger self to listen to people less and my instincts more.
What advice would you give young students embarking on a career in the arts?
Never give up, and do not skip any steps, mistakes are not failures but tools that we learn from and keep moving forward.
The COVID pandemic has had an enormous impact on the creative industries and opportunities for individual artists. However, the last few years have furnished you with the opportunity to explore your creative flair. Please tell us how you personally lived through the pandemic and the projects currently in development
It was indeed a strange and rare time and there was nothing none of us could do so I had a sit down with myself and said to myself, what can I do during this time? I decided to work on myself so that when the world does open up again I would hit the ground running and be ready for all the opportunities the universe had for me.
I dove deep into self-help, self-care, and self-realization and took a deep long hard look at myself, and worked on repairing years of childhood trauma that I thought I did work on. Once I opened that door and started the work my creativity exploded, I started with my manager and my voice teacher and the work I did with my therapist allowed me to thrive. I wrote a musical with 11 original songs, and started working on screenplays, novels, and many creative ideas that are stored in my creative bank.
We can look forward to your upcoming performance on Broadway of the Tennessee Williams play Hello From Bertha. For the benefit of our audience, please tell us more about the play and what audiences can expect from this particular production.
To be able to work on a Tennessee Williams play is a gift to any actor and I am thankful that I have been given this opportunity. My character Goldie is a madam in a D-level brothel in the red light district of St. Louis and she has the hard task of evicting her best friend Bertha who is ill, actually on the brink of death, because she resides in the best room and isn’t bringing in any money, further Goldie has a pimp to answer to which doesn’t make things any easier. Tony nominee Lorraine Serbian directed and Merciful Delusions produced the run which was at Theater Row on 42nd Street, Broadway. My interpretation of Goldie is an essay on tough love and what being between a rock and hard place looks like.
Where can our readers find out more about you? ( Please share your website and social media feeds)
https://instagram.com/marie_claireplus?r=nametag
https://youtube.com/c/marieclaire1926
https://youtu.be/BklgLjkwv-I
Image Cathedral High School Around the World GalaMay 18, 2022United Nations Delegates Dining Room1 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017
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