ABOUT

Claire Lewis is a conductor and pianist based in Baltimore, Maryland. Claire is the recent awardee of the Harmony Fellowship for Underrepresented Conductors, assisting and conducting the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Beginning in the fall, she will be the Richmond Symphony Conducting Apprentice, working closely with the Richmond Symphony, Virginia Opera, and the Richmond Ballet. Claire was also selected for the Taki-Alsop Conducting Fellowship Mentoring Program, where she will work with the world’s leading women conductors.

 

Claire made her conducting debut with the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall at the age of 19, as the winner of the Respighi Prize in Conducting. As a Conducting Scholar at the Eastern Music Festival in 2023, she conducted performances with the Eastern Symphony Orchestra and the Eastern Festival Orchestra. She has recently served as assistant conductor for performances with the Colorado Symphony, Washington Choral Arts, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York. Claire was the co-founder and Vice President of the non-profit San Marcos Youth Strings from 2017-2019.

 

When Claire was 13, she became the youngest graduate of Palomar College, earning an Associate’s Degree in Science and Math. She then studied classical piano with William Wolfram at Manhattan School of Music, and received her Bachelor’s of Music Degree in Spring 2023. Claire is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, under the tutelage of Marin Alsop. Additional conducting mentors include Joseph Young, Salvatore Di Vittorio, Jose-Luis Novo, Grant Cooper, and Gerard Schwarz.