about clara
BC’s Kootenay fairy songstress. Weaving sounds of Celtic, folk, alternative, and dreampop music; drawing inspiration from nature and mythology; and alchemizing songs with storytelling at their core. Clara believes that music is magic.
Clara MacLeod, who releases music under the name “Clara Cloud”, is a Canadian singer-songwriter originally from the small town of Kimberley, BC. After having lived in Vancouver for 5 years, she’s made her way back to the mountains she calls home and is currently based out of the Kootenays. Having her background in musical theatre performance and composition, storytelling has always been at the heart of everything she does.
She released her debut single “Window” in October of 2020, and the song has since been used in the short film “Finding Your Rhythm” (directed by Leah Galloway). Since then, she has released several self produced singles, EPs, and, most recently, her 8-track album.
“The Woods” is a visual album, and a collaboration with over 30 creatives from around BC. In 2023, two songs from the album, “The Archer” and “Weathervane”, were longlisted for the Faith Nolan Award for Music through the Surrey Muse Arts Society. The album has garnered critical acclaim and radio play across the country, and the choral arrangements of the album served as the foundation for a youth music workshop done in collaboration with Selkirk Secondary School in February 2025. As a passionate music educator currently pursuing her formal education degree (through UBC WKTEP), she loves bringing music to the next generation through lessons, workshops, and performance opportunities.
Cloud is also a music director and composer, having created and directed musical works for a variety of theatre and film productions since 2018.
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Articles
Radio Play
[ All tracks are available via earshot!Distro ]
Some stations include:
UnsignedBC (including a live radio performance May 2024)
Local Leisure
The Philp Side
CJAM 99.1FM
CJSF 90.1FM
Radio Western CHRW
UMFM
CKVI-FM
CIUTFM
CFBX (“The Woods” charted Top 10 overall [number 2 and 9] for two consecutive weeks, and number 1 in roots albums)
Short Films
“Window” (Finding Your Rhythm, directed by Leah Galloway)
“Sailor Boy” (Sailor Boy, directed by Riku Watanabe)
For film scoring and composition credits, click here
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Clara is from British Columbia, Canada. She grew up in the East Kootenay region (Kimberley, BC). After spending several years in Vancouver, she’s come back to the mountains she grew up in and is currently based out of the Kootenays again.
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Piano, guitar, ukulele (baritone and soprano), oboe, bassoon, accordion, and kalimba.
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Clara regularly collaborates with her close friend and musical partner Jenna Marie, and the two have one single released together (“Peter”) along with an album projected for later this year.
Clara has also worked with Kaj Falch-Nielsen of Blue Light Studio and the two released two singles (“Window” and “Welcome Home”)
Her debut visual album “The Woods” is a collaboration-based project as well, and features work from five different producers, eight music video directors, five actors, and a variety of other creative team members, totalling over 30 creatives spanning from across BC, to Canada, and beyond.
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Over two decades!
Clara started performing at the age of 3 on stacks of books in her childhood basement (singing mostly songs from Disney and movie musicals), though it wasn’t until she was enrolled into music lessons at the age of 5 that she was launched into the traditional performance setting. She grew up performing in a variety of local concerts, cabarets, and musical theatre productions through both her school music program (led by Sven Heyde) and community music, dance, and theatre associations.
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Clara has achieved her Grade 8 level in RCM classical voice, as well as her Advanced Rudiments (Grade 2) and Harmony Music Theory certifications. Additionally, she has her Bachelor’s degree in performing arts (from Capilano University and Douglas College, where she also studied music composition and production), a music theatre performance advanced diploma (from St. Clair College), and she completed the UCLA youth music theatre conservatory programme at the age of 16.
