EE Faculty Recital: Clara Sandler, Mezzo Soprano

Artist(s)

Clara Sandler, mezzo-soprano, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, feels at home in a wide range of styles, from opera, oratorio and recitals, to zarzuela and tango. Critics have praised her singing as “both powerful and gentle, capturing a remarkable range of emotions”, her voice possessing “a radiantly rich and mellow tone quality”. Clara was the featured soloist at the Boston premiere of Górecki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”, with the Boston Chamber Ensemble, under conductor S.M.Clark. With this orchestra she was also soloist for Wagner’s “Wesendonk Lieder”, her voice praised by The Boston Globe for her “dark and attractive timbre”.

Her soloist appearances in opera, operetta and oratorio with many Boston area music organizations, include the Handel & Haydn Society (under John Finney), Boston Academy of Music (under Charles Peltz and David Daniels), Philharmonic Society of Arlington (under John Bavicchi), Greater Merrimack Valley Choral (under David Tierney), New Bedford Symphony (under F. John Adams), Providence Singers (under Charles Fassett), among others. 

An avid researcher of music from Spain and Latin America, Clara has presented recitals in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Uruguay and in her native Buenos Aires. She is a member of the Boston Arts Consort, organization which specializes in programs of music and culture from Spain and Latin America.

Her CD “Alma Apasionada: Songs from Spain and Argentina”, recorded in Jordan Hall, was released by Newport Classic. Composer Osvaldo Golijov wrote: “The repertoire is beautiful. The singing is truly passionate and spontaneous: each song flows generous and warm, as if it was a live performance.” Clara has also recorded on Arsis Records in Daniel Pinkham’s “Two One-Act Operas”, conducted by John Finney.

A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Clara is on the Voice faculty at Boston College Music department and at NEC’s Expanded Education. 

Clara is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, a mind-body awareness method for finding ease and freedom of movement through changing tension-habits. She teaches Alexander classes for musicians at the New England Conservatory (EE) and privately at her studio in Brookline, MA. Clara has presented Alexander Technique workshops in New York, Boston, Buenos Aires, José Ignacio (Uruguay), Berlin, Ennis (Ireland), Wimborne (UK) and at the Suzuki Festival in Lima, Perú. This past summer she taught the technique at NEC’s Summer Orchestra Institute (SOI) and at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI). 
www.clarasandler.com


Jean Danton, Soprano/Equity Actor, has appeared throughout the United States and Europe in oratorio, opera, recitals, musicals, and on the concert stage. “A stunning soprano” (Providence Journal), she has performed under renowned conductors Keith Lockhart,Christopher Hogwood, Helmuth Rilling, Martin Pearlman, Bruce Hangen, John Finney, and Julian Wachner. Ms. Danton made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Masterwork Chorus, and her Lincoln Center debut at Avery Fisher Hall with the National Chorale, in both performing Handel's Messiah. Her numerous solo performances include the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Nashua Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Breckenridge Music Festival, North Carolina Symphony, New York Bach Aria Festival, Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, Biellese Festival and Associazione Culturale in Italy, and The Atelier Concert Series at the American Church in Paris, France.
 
Ms. Danton's stage performances include roles with the American Repertory Theatre (ART), Boston Baroque, Greater Buffalo Opera, Boston Classical Orchestra, New England Light Opera, Lowell Opera Co., Cambridge Chamber Opera, and the Boston Early Music Festival. She performs often in Pops and Musical Theatre concerts, appearing with the Boston Pops Orchestra, North Shore Music Theatre, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Hillyer Festival Orchestra, Fall River Symphony, North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra, Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, and American Classics.  A strong promoter of contemporary music, she has premiered works by William Moylan, Delvyn Case, Carson Cooman, Chris Florio, Thomas Oboe Lee, and Aleksandra Vrebalov. Her versatility also extends to jazz, including concerts with the Orchestra at Indian Hill with Bruce Hangen, and with the Rusty Scott Quartet. 
 
Ms. Danton has performed on several prestigious chamber music festivals including the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Festival,Meeting House Chamber Music Festival, Firebrand Chamber Music Series, and the Yale Center for British Art. As a recitalist, she has performed across the country including the N.Y.C. Trinity Church Concert Series, Carmel Bach Festival, Mt. Auburn Concert Series, the Twentieth Century Music Series at the N.Y. Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, and the Longfellow House Gala with Keith Lockhart.
 
Ms. Danton has several solo albums on Albany Records, Newport Classic, and CD Baby ranging from classical, contemporary, and chamber music to musical theatre. She is a featured artist on Pandora Premium and her film credits include vocals for PBS, Lifetime, and Oregon Public Broadcasting. She is on the Voice Faculty at Boston College, Salem State University, and New England Conservatory (AE) where she also taught acting and co-directed both the Opera Workshop and Musical Theatre Workshop Courses. She is the Music Director/Cantor at St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish in Cambridge, MA. www.jeandanton.com, www.facebook.com/JeanDantonSoprano


Linda Papatopoli, piano, has been on the music faculty at Boston College for over twenty years, and deeply enjoys her work with students, teaching piano and directing the Boston College Piano Ensemble. She has given numerous recitals of art song with BC colleagues Jean Danton and Clara Sandler and is very happy to present this program with them tonight.

A graduate of Wilkes University, Ms. Papatopoli was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree cum laude with a citation in English Literature. She received a Masters in Piano Performance from the Boston Conservatory and did post-graduate work at New England Conservatory, the Mozarteum in Austria, and advanced pianistic study with Ann Karnofsky,
student of Rosina Lhevine.

In addition to her teaching at Boston College, she performs extensively in the Boston area as a soloist and in collaboration with fellow musicians, artists, and dancers. She has performed with orchestras in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, her repertoire including concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, Finzi, and Macdowell. She was first-prize winner in the Northeast Pennsylvania Youth Artists Competition and competed in the International Young Artists Piano Competition. She has accompanied at the Metropolitan Opera Studios and performed solo and duo-piano at Carnegie Recital Hall.

Ms. Papatopoli’s passion for the classical and traditional music of Spain and her interest in culture led her to found the Boston Arts Consort, producing programs that bring Spain’s rich heritage to the public. The Consort has been featured in the Boston Globe and Voyager Magazine. In October, she presented a lecture-recital at the Boston Public Library with Spanish
cultural lecturer Margarita Campos entitled “From Spain to Boston: The Life of Rafael Guastavino in Words and Music”, bringing to light the work of 19th-Century architect of the Library and his lesser-known gift as a composer.

Upcoming concerts and projects of Ms. Papatopoli include “The Piano Music of Fumio Hayasaka, Kurasowa’s Favorite Film Composer” (Kaji Aso Studio for the Arts, Boston Fall, 2026) and “Songs My Teacher Taught Me: Music from My Childhood” (Summer, 2026)