Praised for her “seductive artistry” and “rare grace” (Classical Voice North America), violinist Clara Neubauer is establishing herself as a deeply expressive and authentic artist. She is winner of the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music from The Juilliard School and the Ana Chumachenco Award at the Kronberg Academy Masterclasses. Clara received her BM from The Juilliard School as a student of Li Lin and Itzhak Perlman, and is currently finishing her MM as a student of Catherine Cho and Itzhak Perlman and a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.
A passionate chamber musician, Clara has appeared at festivals internationally including the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Kronberg Chamber Music Connects the World, Taos School of Music, Four Seasons Workshop, Music From Angel Fire, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Prussia Cove, and Olympic Music Festival. She has performed on tour with Musicians from Marlboro and Taos on Tour and collaborated with artists including Mitsuko Uchida, Peter Wiley, Donald Weilerstein, Ani Kavafian, Misha Amory, Carter Brey, and Daniel Phillips.
This season, Clara looks forward to returning to the Marlboro Music Festival, as well as performances at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Rome Chamber Music Festival, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Prussia Cove Chamber Music, and Caramoor Evnin Rising Stars Program. This spring, she will attend the IMS Prussia Cove Masterclasses with Steven Isserlis.
“lovely, heart-tugging sound distinguished by sylvan highs.”
- CLASSICAL VOICE NORTH AMERICA
Winner of the National YoungArts competition, Clara has appeared as soloist with the Symphony of Westchester, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn (play-conducting), the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, the Little Orchestra Society, Ensemble 212, and the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra. She has additionally won top prizes at the Adelphi Competition, the Symphony of Westchester Young Artist Competition, Ensemble 212 Young Artist Competition, and the Young Musicians Competition at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Clara was a Musical Ambassador for the Doublestop Foundation as winner of their Artist in You Competition and was featured on WQXR as part of their Young Musicians Showcase with her brother, Oliver. She was a Young Performer at the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute for five years and was chosen as one of five young artists featured at the chamber music fellowship program of the Olympic Music Festival. She currently serves as concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, including a recent performance with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel at David Geffen Hall, and performs often as part of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Growing up in a family of professional musicians, Clara’s love for music - chamber music in particular - began from a very early age.
Her first experience with chamber music was playing duos with her older brother at the ages of 5 and 7, something which they joyfully continued for the following 19 years (and hopefully many more to come!). She is part of the Neubauer/McDermott Family Quartet, composed of herself, her brother Oliver, and her parents, Kerry McDermott and Paul Neubauer.
Clara is also a founding member of the Tobias Quartet along with Oliver Neubauer, Samuel Rosenthal, and Sterling Elliott. The Tobias Quartet was the ensemble in residence at Music From Angel Fire for two summers, where they traveled around northern New Mexico presenting educational programs to K-12 students and sharing musical topics in a fun and accessible way.
Born on 9/11/2001, Clara can be heard as the voice of the audio guide at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum along with Robert deNiro, available as a free app for download at the App Store. Her writing has been published in “Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11”, and she has been the feature of interviews on TV Globo and CBS Sports (watch here), speaking and playing violin.
Clara currently plays on a 1721 Petrus Guarneri violin, generously on loan to her from Juilliard’s Stringed Instrument Collection.