"Total command of music and instrument with an excellent sense of style and character."
Maestro Lawrence Rapchak
About Claire
Praised for being in “total command of music and instrument with an excellent sense of style and character”, violinist Claire Bourg is quickly captivating audiences with her sincere artistry, virtuosity, and passion.
Ms. Bourg has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in many of the world’s leading venues throughout the United States and Europe, such as Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Kimmel Center, Bremen’s Kleiner Saal, Pritzker Pavilion, Jordan Hall, and the Fryderyk Chopin University Hall in Warsaw. Most recently, she was a soloist with the Camerata Bern in Hannover, as part of the Joachim International Violin Competition.
A laureate of many competitions, Ms. Bourg was granted the prestigious 2021 Luminarts Fellowship, awarded second prize at the 2020 Barbash J.S. Bach Competition, and winner of the New England Conservatory Competition. A frequent voice on the radio, she has appeared on NPR and Chicago’s WFMT radio programs.
Ms. Bourg is an avid and sought-after chamber musician and has collaborated with several preeminent instrumentalists, including Mitsuko Uchida, Kim Kashkashian, Jorg Widmann, Ida Kavafian and Frans Helmerson, among others. She performs regularly with Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Music for Food, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, Curtis on Tour and currently serves as the concertmaster of Symphony in C in Philadelphia.
This year Ms. Bourg returned as resident artist at the Marlboro Music Festival—one of classical music’s most coveted retreats, as well as the Evnin Rising Stars program at Caramoor. Previous international music festival residencies include Yellow Barn, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Taos Chamber Music Festival, International Musicians Seminar--Prussia Cove, and Gstaadt Menuhin Festival Academy.
Ms. Bourg is extremely passionate about premiering and performing the works of living composers. She has worked with Augusta Read Thomas, Jorg Widmann, David Ludwig, and Steven Mackey, among many others. She recently performed the Clearwater Rhapsody by Bright Sheng with the composer himself at the piano, in both Philadelphia and New York.
A native of Chicago, Ms. Bourg holds an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music studying with Pamela Frank and Arnold Steinhardt, and a bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory as a student of Miriam Fried. Currently residing in New York City, she is a student of Joseph Lin at the Juilliard School, where she holds the prestigious Kovner Fellowship.
Claire currently performs on a violin by Zosimo Bergonzi of Cremona, c. 1770 on generous loan through Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins, Chicago.