Clare Lesser specializes in the performance of 20^th century and contemporary music.  Her current research in performance focuses on deconstructive performance strategies and their application to graphic and indeterminate scores. She has given over 50 premieres to date, and her work in this field has previously been nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society award. She has worked with composers including: Karlheinz Stockhausen, James Dillon, Heinz Holliger, Jean-Claude Risset, Mathias Spahlinger, Betsy Jolas, Michael Finnissy, Richard Rodney Bennett, and Hans Joachim Hespos. She records on the Metier label and has released performances of works by Finnissy, Henze, Kelemen, Rihm, Berberian, and Scelsi etc.  She has performed throughout Europe and the Middle East, including at the Edinburgh, Gaudeamus, Aix and Avignon festivals.

She studied oboe at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, before transferring to Birmingham University to complete a bachelors in music. She has an MA in vocal performance from Birmingham Conservatoire, followed by research on the music of BA Zimmermann (MPhil) at the University of Sussex. She currently heads the vocal program at New York University Abu Dhabi.  Her next recording (works by Holliger, Lesser, Finnissy and Rihm) for Metier will be released in October/November 2018.