VC ARTIST

VC Artist and Violinist Claire Wells captivates audiences with a sound that speaks straight from her heart. Unique in her imagination and original, honest interpretations, Claire brings a profound presence to the stage with a transparency that touches her listeners.

Solo concert engagements have brought her to halls like the Wigmore Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center, Bass Performance Hall, Teatro Degollado, and Konzerthaus Berlin, and the American violinist has collaborated with major symphonies such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Jalisco Philharmonic, among others.

Having taken major prizes from several international competitions such as the Indianapolis and Mirecourt competitions, Claire Wells is the Mendelssohn-Prize First Prize and Commission Prize winner at the 2021 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition along with the 2nd Prize award winner at the 2023 Michael Hill International Violin Competition. Claire is also the 2023 violin scholarship winner of the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund.

Having always held a special place in her heart for chamber music, Claire has been invited to perform at several international festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Kronberg's Chamber Music Connects the World, the Gstaad Festival, Krzyzowa Festival, and the Verbier Festival. Claire frequently collaborates with some of the world’s top young musicians, as well as sharing the stage with world-renowned musicians such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Anders Tomter, and Enrico Pace, amongst others.

Born in 2001 to a family of musicians, Claire Wells began playing the violin and piano at the age of 3. Growing up, Claire studied with a myriad of violin pedagogues; namely Emanuel Borok, Sandy Yamamoto, and Brian Lewis. From the age of 16, Claire began at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Lutsia Ibragimova and followed with studies at the Köln Hochschule für Musik und Tanz with Mihaela Martin. Since 2022, Claire has continued her studies with Mihaela Martin at the Kronberg Academy, made possible by the Opel/Dr. Schaefer patronage.

Claire Wells plays on a Nicolo Amati and a Grand Adam bow, on loan from a generous donor.