Clara Abou, violinist / biography


Born in 1984 in Grenoble, France, Clara Abou started playing the violin at the age of 3 and was taught by Prof. Clotilde Münch in Grenoble. Very soon she was noticed by Lord Yehudi Menuhin and was offered a scholarship at the age of 13 to study with Prof. Natalia Boyarskaya at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. In 2002, she joined the class of Prof. Dora Schwarzberg at the Vienna Universität für Musik where she was awarded her 1st Diploma with distinction. In parallel, since October 2007, she has been undertaking post-graduate studies at the CNSM in Lyon, France, in the class of Prof. Vladimir Nemtanu. Clara has given numerous concerts throughout Europe as a soloist with orchestra, in recitals and as a chamber musician, including solo appearances at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, and in Folkstone as a soloist with the London Mozart Players. In 2006, she participated in a series of concerts organised by Jeunesses Musicales in different cities in Romania, in 2007 she was invited to perform Shostakovich's 1st violin concerto with the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra at the Philharmonie Hall in Kosice (Slovakia) and in 2008 she performed the Hartmann Concerto Funèbre at the Oistrakh Festival together with the St. Petersburg Festival Orchestra conducted by Kiyotaka Tereoka in Pärnu (Estonia) and Ravel's Tzigane with the Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Nicola Ventrella at the Ruse Philhamonic Hall (Bulgaria).		In 2009 she performed Shostakovich 's 1st concerto with the CNSM Orchestra of Lyon conducted by Peter Czaba and the Berg Kammerkonzert with the "Ensemble 20-21" under the baton of Fabrice Pierre at the Salle Varese in Lyon. Clara has also appeared in music festivals and concert seasons including La Roque d'Anthéron (ensemble en résidence 2008), Festival Européen Jeunes Talents, Festival Debussy (Paris), Musée en Musique (France) and in Austria as a "rising star" in the Vienna Leopold Museum Concert series and Schloss Mirabell (Salzburg). Clara has taken part in many masterclasses with important personalities from the music world including Yehudi Menuhin, Zakhar Bron, Mauricio Fuks, Boris Kuschnir, Olivier Charlier and Eric Friedman as a soloist; and with Mstislav Rostropovich and Hortense Cartier-Bresson for chamber music. Distinctions include receiving the prize of the academy at the Rencontres musicales d'Arcachon (2006), winning 1st prize at the Flame Jeunes Solistes competition in Paris (2005) and being a finalist of the Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Bucharest (2005). Clara recorded Hartmann's Concerto Funèbre with the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra under the baton of Malcolm Singer for the Classical Recording label in 2002. She is a recipient of the Mécénat Musical Société générale award (2008).