Claire Cheng, clarinetist

Claire Cheng is originally from Potomac, Maryland, where she studied with Arianna McFeaters and Albert Hunt. Her musical journey began when she chose to play the clarinet in fourth grade simply because of its enticing name. What began as honks and squeaks gradually evolved into basic tunes and melodies that eventually blossomed into a form of rich and poetic self expression.

Claire has been playing the clarinet for eleven years. Between 2013 and 2019, she has been a part of the highly renowned Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (MCYO), and was Principal Clarinetist of their Young Artists Orchestra from 2014-15, Symphony Orchestra from 2016-17, and their Philharmonic Orchestra from 2018-19. She has also actively played in her county honor bands for three years and state honor bands for five years. In 2016, she was Principal Clarinetist of the Montgomery County Junior Honors Band. In 2015, she won the MTNA Junior Woodwind State Competition in Virginia. Following her state win, she then earned second place at the MTNA Southern Division Junior Woodwind Competition in Tampa, Florida. She also won the Asian American Music Society’s International Competition in 2016, and was invited to play as a soloist at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington DC. In 2017, she won the NVMTA Woodwind Concerto Competition and the Young Musicians Inspiring Change International Competition. In 2019, she received the Semper Fidelis award from the Marine Corps in recognition of her diligence, dedication and musical excellence as a performing high school bandsman and soloist.

She continued her clarinet studies at the University of Pittsburgh under Mary Malek, where she recently graduated with a major in Music Performance alongside an additional major in Computational Biology in April 2023. She has served as principal clarinetist of the University of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since her freshman year of college, and has played in several chamber groups. She was recently awarded the Mildred Miller Posvar Award by the University of Pittsburgh Music Department for her outstanding performance in music.

Hear her play: https://youtu.be/rd0kysVgog8