Two New Faculty Members Join Department of Music

Photos Submitted

From left, Helen Becqué and Lauren Clare

The Department of Music is honored to welcome to their faculty Helen Becqué, a voice and piano faculties vocal coach and instructor of the vocal diction curricula, and Lauren Clare, a vocal coach who will train voice majors within the Department of Music.

Becqué and Clare come to the University of Arkansas as performers of note on international stages in their respective fields.

Belgian pianist Helen Becqué gave her European début at the age of nine, and has since been noted for her consistently thoughtful and emotionally committed performances which have made her an increasingly sought-after young artist in Europe and North America. Becqué was a finalist in the prestigious International Hugo Wolf Competition (Stuttgart), and a semi-finalist in the largest competition for Lied in the world, 'Das Lied' (Berlin). She completed post-graduate studies at the München Hochschule für Musik und Theater. Also passionate about opera, Becqué completed a residency at the Music Academy of the West.

Sought after as a vocal coach and teacher, she has been a lecturer at the University of Toronto instructing German Lieder and Song Interpretation classes, and has worked as a Korrepetitorin at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Nürnberg-Augsburg in Germany. In 2020, her CD recording for the Canadian Art Song Project featuring world premiere recordings of the songs of Healey Willan was nominated for the JUNO award for the best vocal classical album of the year.

The experience of growing up in a 'polyglot' environment in combination with Becqué's love of song, the human voice, and the piano, has proven thus far an enormous catalyst in the success of her career. Helen is delighted to have had such incredible opportunities and looks forward to much more beautiful music-making in the future.

Lauren Nicole Clare is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. She comes to the University of Arkansas with a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from Oklahoma City University, where she graduated with high honors and was elected by faculty into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society's Alpha Upsilon Chapter.

For the past 12 years, Clare has worked professionally as a vocalist in the jazz, pop and hip-hop worlds. She also serves in roles as a composer and producer with a 22-year background in classical piano. She currently curates an Emmy-nominated music project entitled The Allie Lauren Project. Most recently Clare has produced and composed works for Emmy Award Winning artist Jabee Williams and also for the Chickasaw Nation.

As a member of the Recording Academy, Lauren was honored to attend the 2019 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, and is honored to now have the opportunity to help unlock the potential of vocalists at the University of Arkansas.

About the Department of Music: The Department of Music in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music since 1951, has been a chartered member of Pi Kappa Lambda since 1984. Home to over 300 music majors and minors and more than 35 graduate students, the department has a faculty of 50 nationally and internationally recognized scholars, pedagogues and musicians. Our program offers degrees at the bachelor and master levels and offers an intensive one-year performer's certificate. The department is an All-Steinway School, and offers students a number of recognized ensembles, many of which have toured nationally and internationally.