Get to know our special guest artist, Clare Longendyke, before her performance at DYAO's upcoming UNCOMMON ECHOES concert!
A pianist with “an artistic ferocity that captivated and astonished listeners” (Waverly Newspapers), Clare Longendyke is a soloist, chamber musician, and musical innovator who performs with American orchestras and on recital series around the world. Recent highlights include performances with orchestras in Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, and Virginia, and the release of her debut solo CD in 2024, …of dreams unveiled, featuring works of Debussy, Amy Williams, and Anthony R. Green. The album debuted at #2 on the Traditional Classical Billboard Chart and was praised as “a work of remarkable pianistic invention” (The WholeNote), “delightfully daring,” and “a CD that should not be missed” (EarRelevant).
A charming and charismatic performer, Clare’s passion for the music she plays radiates through her artistry and in the way she speaks from the concert stage. She has a contagious commitment to the music of our time, and her programming celebrates works by favorite composers of the past—Robert and Clara Schumann, Beethoven, and Debussy, to name a few—while creating space for those that are paving the way towards classical music’s more inclusive future. One of the highlights of her career has been to collaborate with living composers to commission new works. She relishes the opportunity to put her stamp on pieces of music that will go on to be staples of the piano repertoire for centuries. In the last decade, she has commissioned over 30 new solo and chamber music works and been involved in over 250 world premiere performances.
Clare’s 2024/25 Season highlights include Carnegie Hall and collaborations with the Mankato Symphony Orchestra (MN) and Denver Young Artists Orchestra. Past appearances include The University of Chicago Presents, The Schubert Club of Minnesota, The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (MN), Sandler Center for the Performing Arts (VA), The Palladium (IN), and Olin Arts Center (ME). Recent orchestral partners include Symphonicity (VA), Rochester Symphony Orchestra (MN), and the Oak Ridge Symphony (TN). Her playing has been heard on radio stations around the country, including NPR’s Performance Today.
Clare has lived and studied on both American coasts and abroad, earning degrees at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts and her Master’s and Doctor of Music from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. An ardent Francophile and fluent French speaker, she received the Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Award in the Arts to study at the École normale de musique in Paris in 2009. She has served as Artist-in-Residence at The University of Chicago (2019–21) and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana (2023–24).
For Clare, performance is just one aspect of her role as an ambassador for classical music in today’s world. The connections she makes on concert stages, in classrooms, and everywhere in between help to foster a greater sense of community for the classical music field that she cares about so deeply.
