Claire Craig-Sheets (Dr. Claire Craig-Sheets) has been involved in theater and opera since the age of 9.  She has appeared many times as a cast member at Portland Opera, beginning with the children’s chorus in 1994, and most recently as a member of the main opera chorus.  She made her title role debut with Broadway Rose Theater Company in their children’s theater production of Little Red Riding Hood, and performed again with their children’s theater in the title role of Rapunzel, both as a teenager. She has also performed in many masterclasses around the North West region.  She received her first role with Portland State Opera in 2001, as the understudy for the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, coached by the esteemed Marilyn Horne. In 2002, she was one of two vocal winners of Niel DePonte’s Young Artists at the Schnitz series (now called the Young Artists Debut series), where she performed the signature aria from La Cenerentola with members of the Oregon Symphony.  This year, she made her official PSU Opera stage debut in the role of Mistress Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff.  She began her vocal studies at age 10, with Carole Stewart of Willamette University, and then with Ruth Dobson when she came to Portland State.  She now studies with Pamela South, and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Music this year.  Recordings of her can be found at www.myspace.com/musicabellapdx.