Hi, and welcome to mauriceclarke.com.
I’ve been planning the site for about 6 months and HURRAY the time has come for it to be launched.
This page is just some basic information - the main all-singing-all-dancing site requires the macromedia flash plug-in - you can get it here.
If you know you have flash, the new site is here!
My plan is to write you a wee monthly diary entry to keep you up to date with all the news and fun projects planned, starting with my new album (as yet unnamed) to be released at the end of July 2005, and I am delighted that Susan Hitch and David Ashley have kindly agreed to write my new one man concept show (they are locked in a secret location somewhere in north London!) which we will be showcasing later this year.
As the months go on I want the web site to evolve, so pop in if you have a moment and see what’s happening.
Have a fun day.
Maurice xx
Grateful - The new album by Maurice Clarke
My latest album is out, you can order it online now
Biography:
Maurice was born in Ayrshire, Scotland where as a youngster he succumbed to the call of the hairbrush and the coal bunker in the garden to perform hits by Sinatra, Andy Williams, Matt Munroe and Tom Jones to his first audience of schoolmates and their mothers - whether they liked it or not!
At the age of 18 he went to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music to study opera, oratorio and lieder; he discovered the most wonderful music from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, but it was after listening to a recording of Gordon McRay singing the ‘Soliloquy’ from Rogers and Hammerstein's CAROUSEL that he knew what he wanted to do. After graduating with a DRSAM in teaching and performance Maurice headed for London. It wasn’t too long before he secured himself his first West End show playing Franchetti in CAFE PUCCINI(1986) produced by Lord Lloyd Webber and Sir Cameron MackIntosh, starring Nichola McAuliffe. His first musical - singing opera!
Since then, his other work has included :-
CRICKET (1986) by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, written for The Queens 60th birthday and performed in her private chapel at Windsor castle Feuilly in LES MISERABLES (1987/88) Charlie Cameron in BRIGADOON (1988/89) Anatoly Sergievsky in CHESS (1990/91) directed by Anthony Van Laast SPREAD A LITTLE HAPPINESS - the music of Vivian Ellis (1992) Jimmy Powers in Cy Colmans CITY OF ANGELS (1993) SHOWSTOPPERS - BBC TV (1995) Anatoly Sergievsky in CHESS directed by Anthony Van Laast(1996) John F Kennedy in JFK - A MUSICAL DRAMA directed by Tony Award winner Larry Fuller, in Dublin (1997) and New York (1998) Guillaume in MARTIN GUERRE (1999) Edward Moncreiff in the British premiere of ON A CLEAR DAY (2000) THE MUSIC OF MALTBY AND SHIRE at Jermyn St Theatre (2000) Claude Bukowsky in Anthony Van Laast's production of HAIR (2001) at the Spektrum Arena, Oslo
In recent years Maurice has performed in concert in the UK and Europe with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Scottish Symphony Orchestra with varied programmes from Gershwin and Cole Porter to Rogers & Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
His albums include :- City Of Angels, Brigadoon, Martin Guerre, The Gershwin Years, Success, the Music Of Maltby And Shire and his solo album NO OTHER LOVE produced by Robert Scott and Lesley Hayes.
Since 1999 Maurice has been proud to be associated with MD2000 in Hampstead where he is Vice Head Of Singing. One of his main reasons for teaching, is to be able to give something back to an industry that has been very generous to him by educating the talent of the future. MD2000 directors Jacki Mitchell, Donald McLennan and Ikky Maas are truly dedicated to the task of developing young performers, and to work in an environment that nurtures and fiercely supports their talent is an honour and a joy.
Maurice is currently in the studio recording his new album, and with the official launch of mauriceclarke.com you can keep up to date with all of his projects via this site.
It’s a long way from singing on the coal bunker in Bonnie Scotland!