Claire Chase

Declared “indefatigable” by Time Out Chicago, flutist Claire Chase 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.

In the 2008-09 season, Ms. Chase’s varied performances include New York City’s Miller Theatre, Chicago’s Contemporary Museum of Art, Boston’s Gardner Museum, Northwestern and Bowling Green State Universities, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and venues in Berlin, Frankfurt and Barcelona. Recent highlights include solo appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and El Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

As a chamber musician, Ms. Chase can be heard this season at Festival Nova Helsinki (Finland) and the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Michoacán (Mexico). Recent collaborative appearances include the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, the MusicNOW series at Symphony Center with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with the Élan Trio as a first prizewinner at the Coleman National Chamber Music Competition and on live radio broadcasts at WNYC (New York), WFMT and WBEZ (Chicago) and KUSC (Los Angeles).

Ms. Chase is credited with world premiere performances of over 100 new solo works for the flute and has produced eight large-scale contemporary music festivals in New York City and Chicago, playing more than 200 concerts of new music in those cities. In 2001, she founded the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), which has been described as “one of the most adventurous and accomplished groups in new music” (New York Times) and “a powerhouse of new-music programming…brilliant and unexpected” (The New Yorker). She has served as executive director of ICE since its inception and is a frequent performer with the ensemble.

Her debut solo album, aliento, which features world premiere recordings for flute and electronics, will be released in March 2009 on the New York-based label New Focus Recordings. Her extensive chamber music discography includes recordings with various groups for the Tzadik, Bridge and Naxos labels. Ms. Chase is featured on a Fall 2008 release of the music of George Crumb, part of Bridge Records’ Complete Crumb Edition, recorded in close collaboration with the composer.

Ms. Chase has taken top prizes at the National Young Artist Competition and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Competition and was a featured soloist at the 2005 National Flute Association Convention, performing the world premiere of a new flute concerto by Harvey Sollberger. Notable awards include the Theodore Presser Foundation, ASCAP, Chamber Music America and the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

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.