In September 2024, Emma will commence a Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music, London.

Emma McClean is a soprano from Christchurch, studying under the tutelage of Anna Leese. In 2022 she graduated from the University of Otago with First Class Honours in Music and Law and she is currently a solicitor at Anderson Lloyd. 

She is an alumna of the New Zealand Opera School (2020, 2024) and New Zealand Singing School (2019) and was a member and soloist with the New Zealand Youth Choir (2020-2022). Emma has performed as a Freemasons Regional Singer and she is a member of Voices New Zealand. 

She made her debut with Opera Otago in 2019 performing the role of Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, and in 2022 she performed the role of Miss Constantia Pinner in Daughters of the Late Colonel. She is a member of the New Zealand Opera Chorus, performing in Macbeth (2022), Così fan tutte (2023), Die tote Stadt (2023), and Le comte Ory (2024). 

Emma was a recipient of the University of Otago Callis Trust Performance Scholarship from 2017-2019. She was awarded the Muriel Herbert Prize by the University of Otago Council for demonstrating excellence in the practice of music in 2021, and she was a 2020-2022 RSA Choir Vocal Scholar. She competes successfully at regional aria competitions where she placed second equal in the Canterbury Opera Foundation Aria (2024), and third in the ODT Southern Aria competition (2023) and the Canterbury Opera Foundation Aria (2022). 

Recent concert engagements as a soprano soloist include with Bach Musica NZ, the Auckland Opera Studio, New Zealand Opera School and the Freemasons Foundation. Emma is a 2024 Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award recipient.