Declared “dynamic” and “indefatigable” by Time Out New York, Claire is First Prize Winner of the 2008 Concert Artists Guild Competition.  A passionate performer, leader and innovator, she creatively links traditional, contemporary and experimental music with program choices that range from Bach and Brahms to Boulez, Saariaho, Zorn and beyond.

Her recent itinerary took her coast to coast to some of the most important US venues: The Kennedy Center in DC, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, New York City’s Miller Theatre, Chicago’s Contemporary Museum of Art, Boston’s Gardner Museum, and internationally to the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, El Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and venues in Berlin, Frankfurt and Barcelona.

In 2001, she founded the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), which is described as “one of the most adventurous and accomplished groups in new music” (The New York Times) and “a powerhouse of new-music programming…brilliant and unexpected” (The New Yorker).  A sought-after lecturer, teacher and chamber music coach, Claire Chase has given lectures and master classes recently at Smith College, CalArts and Oberlin Conservatory, from which she received a B.M. in 2001 in the studio of Michel Debost. She made her concerto debut at age 14 with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and at age 17 was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the White House Department of Education.