One of the most unique and indefatigable musical artists working today, Claire Chase is a flutist, interdisciplinary artist, collaborator, and educator. Underlying all her work is the drive to greatly expand the musical repertoire for the flute across as many genres as can be managed and as such, she has premiered hundreds of new works by the next generation of artists. Her approach to music is sound in all its forms expressed through the many shapes and forms of the flute. Her expressive performances can border on dance.

Born in Leucadia, CA, in 1978, Clair Chase dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. However, that childhood dream fell by the wayside when she discovered the flute. She made her debut with the San Diego Symphony at age 14, received her B.M. degree from Oberlin in 1999, made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2010, was the first flutist to be awarded not only the Avery Fisher Prize but also the first flutist to receive The MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellowship in 2012. She has performed with major orchestras around the world. Her most expansive undertaking is the Density 2036 Project begun in 2013 “which re-imagines the solo flute literature over a quarter-century leading up to the centennial of Edgard Varése seminal 1936 work, Density 21.5”* The manuscript page featured here is from a piece entitle Elwah!, the 12th in the cycle of works commissioned for this project.

She is currently Professor of Practice at Harvard University and is on the faculty at Juilliard. From 2022-23, Chase occupied the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall.

*Ihlara McIndoe, The Kitchen, NYC, Fall 2025.