Dr Clair Le Couteur (they/them) is a visually impaired, non-binary / trans vocalist, artist and scholar. They explore voice and folk heritage through performance and research. Clair’s Fine Art PhD project ‘The Fictive Museum’ (RCA 2017) explored the spaces between fact and fiction in museums and archives.

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In Lunatraktors, Clair searches for songs in archives and collections from the 1200s onward, often combining multiple versions from different sources, or translating from other languages. Clair works mostly by ear and has difficulty reading music. Clair composes and performs on whistles and multiple keyboard instruments, including piano, accordion, harmonium, melodica, and analogue synth.

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Clair edits images, text and audio, working on the design and postproduction side of Lunatraktors projects, as well as making objects and structures.

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Clair has a 3+ octave range and is a specialist in overtone technique – using specific mouth and tongue positions to change vocal resonance. They have performed and taught voice, artistic research, trans theory and academic writing internationally, from beginner to postgraduate level, at a wide range of institutions including the Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths, Open School East and University College Cork.

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