Violin Lessons with Claire W.

Claire is a violinist and educator based in Madison, WI. She is a first year Master’s student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison pursuing her Master’s degree in Violin Performance, where she studies with Eugene Purdue. She is a member of the UW Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Oriol Sans, which recently performed works such as Ravel’s La Valse and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. She’s also been a member of the Middleton Community Orchestra for the past two years, where she performed works including Resphigi’s Pines of Rome and Sibelius Symphony no. 5. Prior to starting graduate school, Claire was a member of Symphony 847 in Lake Forest, IL, the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra (LGSO) in Lake Geneva, WI, where she sometimes held the position of Principal Second violin, as well as the Middleton Community Orchestra in Middleton, WI.

Claire received her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she studied with Leanne Kelso. While in undergrad she was concertmaster of the Whitewater Symphony Orchestra, as well as concertmaster for the Whitewater Chamber Orchestra. She was a recurring member and scholarship winner of the UW-Whitewater Chancellor's Quartet scholarship and represented the University and the Music Department in the quartet. Claire traveled with the quartet to local high schools in the southern Wisconsin area promoting string chamber music and music education, both in and beyond high school. With the quartet she collaborated with new composers, such as Molly Joyce, performing her string quartet Imperfections after Joyce's short residency with the University. Claire was also a recipient of a fellowship with the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra (LGSO) through the UW-W Music Department, performing with the community orchestra for two seasons under the Fellowship, before spending a year post-grad with the group. With this group she has performed works such as Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker with a local dance company, and Dvorak's Symphony 8, among others.

Claire currently studies chamber music with Suzanne Beia, and has previously studied chamber music with Leanne Kelso and Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb.

Outside of music Claire enjoys visiting with her family- especially her little sisters- and spending time outdoors. She also devotes a lot of time to spoiling her cat, Harper.