Death of an international US mezzo, 62

We have been notified of the death of Clara O’Brien, an American mezzo-soprano who followed a career on German stages with a professorship in North Carolina.

Her widower Lance Hulme has sent us this obituary:

Clara Joy O’Brien, 62, 12/18/2023, Greensboro, NC.
Clara Joy O’Brien, opera singer and Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro died shortly before midnight on Monday, December 18, 2023. She was 62. Clara was born December 8, 1961 in Sharon, PA, daughter of Doyel Ray O’Brien and Mary Tscharskaja. She graduated Magnum Cum Laude from the Dana School of Music in Youngstown, OH, received a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and completed her training at the Curtis School of Music.

A Fulbright Grant took her to Europe where she was quickly engaged by the State Theater of Baden. She appeared on the opera and concert stages throughout Europe and the U.S. and was awarded many honors and prizes. In 2003, she returned to the United States to teach, finally settling in Greensboro as Professor of Music at UNC-G.

She is survived by her husband of 36 years, Dr. Lance Hulme as well as siblings Doyel O’Brien Jr. and his wife Cindy, Rosemary O’Brien-Richards and her husband Douglas, Albert O’Brien, Jonathan O’Brien and Nathan O’Brien. She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Teresa O’Brien.

Her funeral will be on January 13 at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro#at 2 p.m. Donations to Greensboro Urban Ministries in lieu of flowers are welcome.

Dr. Hulme would like to thank all the medical staff at Moses Cone Hospital who sought to aid Clara and helped provide a peaceful death.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.haneslineberryfhnorthelm.com