Clara Lyon – Geneva Music Festival

Clara Lyon is an accomplished performer and curator who forges meaningful connections across sonic languages and societal contexts to foster investigation and imagination. For the last eight seasons Lyon was a violinist and Director of Programs for the Chicago-based Spektral Quartet, during which time they were nominated for three GRAMMY awards, named 2017 ‘Chicagoans of the Year’ by the Chicago Tribune, and taught as Ensemble-in-Residence at University of Chicago’s Music Department. During these years, she cultivated successful collaborative partnerships between celebrated composers, visual artists, writers, and community organizations to create thoughtful and immersive musical experiences across a variety of formats. She also spearheaded the quartet’s lauded cycle of Arnold Schoenberg’s complete string quartets. Known for combining stylistic versatility, eclectic repertoire, and enthusiastic storytelling, her upcoming performances and projects include new commissions, multimedia work, and fresh interpretations of established materials. Lyon recently joined the core roster of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall. Her recordings can be heard on the Nimbus, New Amsterdam, New Focus, Starkland, Sideband, and Sono Luminus labels. Lyon has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, and has appeared frequently with Decoda, Argento Ensemble, and Momenta Quartet, in addition to Spektral Quartet. She was a 2020 recipient of the Music Academy of the West Alumni Enterprise Award, and is a prizewinner of the Irving M. Klein International Competition and the Schadt International String Competition. Recent studio work has included a recording residency at Tippet Rise, Montana, for the recording and production of Decoda’s debut album, and performances and recordings of work by composer Eric Chaselow with the Lydian String Quartet. Lyon’s interest in interdisciplinary collaboration has forged ongoing connections and projects. Her sonic and visual installation with musician Hannah Collins and visual artist Antonia Contro was shown as part of the Only Connect exhibit at the Secrist gallery in Chicago. She is also the only performing member of the Theorem Collective, a small company of artists dedicated to adapting the celebrated fine art book Theorem by Antonia Contro and Elizabeth Bradfield, to the stage in 2024. Current collaborative work also includes the creation of a co-created piece with composer/improviser Mazz Swift and Hannah Collins, and projects with composers Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir and Evan Premo. Lyon was a 2012-2014 fellow with Ensemble Connect, and holds degrees from The Juilliard School and SUNY Stony Brook. Currently based in Chicago, she enjoys fun facts, every color in the realm of blue, and learning how to grow stuff. Clara Lyon is an accomplished performer and curator who forges meaningful connections across sonic languages and societal contexts to foster investigation and imagination. Known for combining stylistic versatility, eclectic repertoire, and enthusiastic storytelling, her upcoming performances and projects include new commissions, multimedia works, and fresh interpretations of established materials. For the last eight seasons Lyon was a violinist and programming director for the Chicago-based Spektral Quartet, during which time they were nominated for three GRAMMY awards, named 2017 ‘Chicagoans of the Year’ by the Chicago Tribune, and taught as resident artists at the music department of the University of Chicago. A prizewinner of the Irving M. Klein International Competition and the Schadt International Competition, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the world, and recently joined the roster of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall.

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